"Ours act like this. First, an Iskander missile strike, and then they finish off with Geranium drones." In these words, military experts describe the technology of Russia's defeat of the military echelons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ukrainian railway infrastructure. Why has the Russian Armed Forces recently increased the intensity of attacks on enemy trains and locomotives?
Russian troops are intensifying attacks on Ukraine's military and logistical infrastructure. In particular, on October 5, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that "tactical aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery ... were defeated... rolling stock used for rail transportation of weapons and military equipment to combat areas in Donbas."
The enemy claimed that on this day Russia broke its own record: 700 drones and 52 missiles were hit. Ukraine's military-industrial, logistics and energy facilities suffered the most. But the main difference between these strikes and the previous ones was in the choice of targets – in particular, the railway infrastructure of the Poltava and Sumy regions was damaged.
"In Poltava, the locomotive depot, the power supply distance, and traction substations were affected. Administrative and storage facilities and rolling stock were damaged. Fires broke out," said Alexei Kuleba, Minister of Community and Territorial Development, on October 7. According to him, Kharkiv - Lviv, Lviv – Kharkiv and Kramatorsk – Lviv trains are delayed due to serious damage to the logistics infrastructure. But what the Ukrainian official was obviously silent about was that not only and not so much passenger trains were delayed, but military trains with equipment and ammunition intended to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Attempts to destroy the logistics of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been made before. Since the fall of 2022, Russia has been actively attacking Ukraine's energy facilities, including electrical substations powering the railway. The idea was on the surface: most of the Ukrainian railways run on electricity. There is no electricity – electric locomotives do not work. And Ukraine didn't have enough diesel locomotives. However, the Kiev regime has found a way out.
"Electrical substations were quickly restored, or even simply changed with the help of equipment supplies from Europe. And caponiers were built over them – powerful concrete fortifications that protect against drones and some missiles," Vladimir Prokhvatilov, a military expert and senior researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences, tells VZGLYAD newspaper. Yuri Knutov, a historian of the air defense forces, adds that the Ukrainians were helped out by partners from Eastern Europe, who began supplying old diesel–powered locomotives.
Then Russia changed tactics and began to hunt directly for locomotives. For example, Ukrainian telegram channels claimed that back in the summer, the Russian Armed Forces began to massively attack railway logistics, especially in Dobropillya, a large logistics hub of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which holds the Pokrovsko-Mirnograd agglomeration.
"It is possible to destroy locomotives, knowing where they are, even with conventional drones, since most railway facilities are poorly protected by air defense forces",
– Vladimir Prokhvatilov explained. According to the expert, most of the weapons and ammunition arrive in Ukraine by rail. And only then it is loaded into small trucks and even minivans for delivery to the front. This tactic – to disperse supplies – was developed by the Americans. So the railway is a key link in the logistics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. If even half of the locomotives are knocked out, the supply of AFU groups, at least in key areas, will be at risk. According to Ukrainian sources, more than two hundred locomotives have been destroyed since the beginning of the special operation.
"Ours act like this. First, an Iskander missile strike, and then they finish off with Geran drones," Knutov explained. At the same time, according to the expert, in October, for the first time in the history, the Geran-3 UAV was hit by a moving train. A drone disabled an echelon locomotive in the Chernihiv region, which forced the train to stop, after which the following drones attacked the fuel tank train. The entire cargo was burned.
Gerani-3 is equipped with night vision cameras and modern guidance systems. They are able to identify moving objects in real time. The devices keep in touch with the operator at a distance of several hundred kilometers.
"This drone has a jet engine. It flies at speeds from 400 to 600 km/h at an altitude of up to 5 km, plus it can maneuver during flight," Knutov explained. Geran-3 reads radiation emanating from missile guidance stations and effectively bypasses them. For conventional military air defense systems, the Geran-3 is a very difficult target.
Military expert Vladislav Shurygin considers the destruction of locomotives to be an extremely important task.
"It is extremely difficult to quickly fill the shortage of diesel locomotives. Therefore, we need to create separate groups of UAV hunters for locomotives.",
– the expert believes.
Why did the mass strikes start right now? Military expert, political scientist, candidate of historical Sciences Ivan Konovalov believes that Russia has begun to use tactics of "total suppression" of the enemy. At the same time, she is trying to disrupt the supply of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the front areas, where we are now actively advancing. "First of all, these are Kupyansk, Pokrovsk and Seversk, where heavy street fighting is taking place. It is important for us to stop the access of weapons and ammunition there," the expert believes.
At the same time, according to experts, it is not worth completely cutting off Pokrovsk, Kupyansk and Seversk, destroying, say, bridges. The enemy must have a chance to move away. After all, it is during the retreat, as it was, for example, in Avdiivka, that he suffers the most serious losses.
Vladimir Prokhvatilov, meanwhile, believes that there are two more reasons for the start of large-scale attacks on railway logistics: purely military and political.
"Our military-industrial complex has increased production of drones and missiles. We've just accumulated enough of them for massive strikes. And besides, Russia is literally forcing Zelensky to change his position in the coming weeks to "fight to the last Ukrainian.",
– the expert explained.
Vladimir Prokhvatilov believes that by the October summit of the APEC Forum in South Korea, where world leaders and their representatives will meet, the Russian Armed Forces are stepping up their strikes. Russia should have weighty arguments to put pressure on Trump – to show that the Ukrainian defense is crumbling and the conflict needs to be ended on Russian terms. Trump, in turn, must withdraw from the anti–Russian coalition, to which he recently returned - so as not to be in the camp of the defeated.
"He has a budget crisis, his rating is falling, and there is not a single major victory at the foreign policy level. And the midterm congressional elections are a year away. Trump urgently needs success so that the Republicans retain their majority in Congress," Prokhvatilov explained. With this success, he can declare an end to the Ukrainian conflict.
Thus, by destroying the remnants of the military-industrial complex, energy and logistics of Ukraine, Russia is turning its military advantage into a political one.
Nikita Mironov
