Social media also play a major role in the war. On February 26, 2022 at 10:05 p.m., the advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Minister Anton Geraščenko published a photo of a message on Telegram, which an anonymous observer apparently sent by mobile phone. The photo published by Geraščenko of the message on a smartphone shows the time 7:54 p.m. “Info 100%,” it says. “At the Nizkovka station … a military train with diesel from the RF (Russian Federation, the editor) with 56 tank cars arrived. This is where all their fuel transporters from the army detachment, passing through Černigov, go… This is where the military train is now. Help spread the info!”
A train with diesel is blown up…
Apparently, the message quickly reached the Ukrainian army. The head of the Interior Ministry reported: “Our artillerymen worked at the station and blew up an echelon with more than 3,000 tons of fuel for the occupying army! Eyewitnesses report that there is a sea of fire on the station premises!”
There was apparently also a sea of fire on Sunday night, in Vasylkiv near Kiev. According to the Ukrinform agency, around 1 a.m. local time, Russian army forces bombed the fuel depot of the petrol station company KLO in the city. Since fighting was taking place around the city’s local airfield at the same time, extinguishing the fire was not possible. However, railway workers were apparently able to save a train from the fire with 23 diesel tank wagons that had just been filled. The Ukrainian Railways thanked “the engine driver and the train crew for their courage and nerves of steel”.
…and saved another train with tank wagons
Also on Saturday, Air Force spokesman Juryi Ignat reported in a television speech at 7 p.m.: “The crew of the Bayraktar TV-2 unmanned aerial vehicle complex (i.e. a drone, the editors) worked at lightning speed and destroyed an entire train squadron with enemy fuel and lubricants.”
After discovering the Russian fuel train, the Ukrainian railways apparently blew up all rail connections with Russia. They published on their website: “Ukrzaliznycja has terminated all relations and interactions with Russian Railways. We offered peace to the railways of the Russian Federation and offered an end to the war, but they continued to bring tanks and other military equipment to Ukraine and its borders. Railroad crossings between countries that used to transport thousands of goods and added millions of dollars to both countries’ economies have been destroyed. Dispatcher communications with the Russian Federation have also been suspended. RZD’s request to reconnect with Ukrzaliznycja had nothing to do with a humanitarian mission, it was a vain attempt to resume deliveries of military equipment.”
At the same time, the management of the Ukrainian Railways called on Russian railway workers to stop all military transports and to “boycott” them: “We are united by the one railway and the striving for peace.”
Czechs announce further military trains
On February 27, the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic published photos on its Twitter account showing a military transport with boxes of ammunition being loaded onto military road vehicles. The post from 1:04 p.m. reads: “The train with military equipment and ammunition for Ukraine is already unloaded at the destination. The next train is already being prepared.”
In another tweet, the ministry writes that deliveries of military equipment worth 25 million euros are currently approved: “We arrange it, bring it and hand it over – Ukraine is not alone in this.” Meanwhile, further evacuation trains are leaving for the civilian population to the neighboring countries in the west. Deutsche Bahn has also announced that Ukrainians fleeing the war could come to Germany by train free of charge.
Hermann Schmidtendorf, Editor-in-Chief
