Defense Express reported the information.
In a recent propaganda report, Russian invading forces revealed the use of an armored train named Volga from their army's railway troops to patrol the railroad between temporarily occupied Melitopol and Volnovakha in the Zaporizhzhia direction.
Footage depicts the typical design of this armored train, featuring locomotives at the front and rear, ZU-23-2 platforms ahead of the locomotives, personnel cars, weapon platforms, and covered freight cars, likely for ammunition transport.
An intriguing detail emerged from their report: the invaders acknowledged being struck by an AFU missile attack during one of their journeys between Melitopol and Volnovakha.
This admission suggests that certain portions of the invaders' railroad communications connecting occupied Crimea and Donbas are within the firing range of Ukrainian Armed Forces. The attack likely involved M142 HIMARS and M270 systems with a range of up to 84 km, potentially including longer-range systems owned by the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
While targeting an enemy armored train may not have been the primary objective, such trains hold significance in Russian army railroad logistics. “It is improbable that the intention of our "gods of war" was to target the enemy armored train, as seen from above, it would resemble a typical freight train with shunting diesel locomotives and freight cars,” Defense Express explains. However, they accompany ammunition-laden trains and can transport ammunition to front-line troops using covered freight cars.
The invaders claim their armored trains are equipped with UAVs for visual railroad line surveillance. Additionally, Russian army's railroad troops' armored vehicles can conduct medium-term repairs on damaged railroad bridges.
According to the Military Balance 2023, the structure of Russia's railway troops remained unchanged during the war against Ukraine, with approximately 29,000 personnel organized into 10 brigades across 4 regional commands.
As previously reported, Ukrainian Defense Forces targeted two vital road bridges for Russian logistics – the Chonhar and Henichesk-Arabat Spit bridges – on August 6. Furthermore, a video showcasing a French SCALP-EG cruise missile under the wing of a Su-24M aircraft demonstrated the adaptations made in Ukrainian aircraft for these missiles.