No coincidence: Why Russia hits Ukraine's railways and how it relates to US assistance
Photo: why RF began to hit the railways of Ukraine (Getty Images)
Russian forces have targeted Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian national railway carrier of cargo and passengers) facilities following the announcement by the United States of a new package of military aid to Ukraine. And this is no coincidence, stated military expert Oleksii Hetman.
Railway shelling incidents
On Thursday, April 25th, railway infrastructure in the Donetsk, Cherkasy, and Kharkiv regions came under Russian strikes. Specifically, Russian forces shelled the railway station in Balakliia in the Kharkiv region, where a train with passengers was stationed.
As a result of the shelling in the Donetsk region, three railway workers were killed and four were injured. Three more employees of Ukrzaliznytsia were injured in the Kharkiv region.
Another enemy attack damaged the railway infrastructure in the Cherkasy region. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
Linking the shelling to assistance from the USA
According to Hetman, today's Russian attacks on Ukrzaliznytsia facilities are evidently linked to a new package of military aid from the USA.
"It's not just speculation. A few days ago, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that aid should be sent to Ukraine, and they supposedly know the routes through which this aid will be moved. They even know warehouses where we are planning to store the aid. And he promised to obstruct so that this aid does not reach the front line. So, it's not a coincidence," he explained.
However, according to the expert, Shoigu is lying when he says that Russia has information about how and where American military aid is being delivered.
"If they knew, they would have attacked long ago. They can only speculate. So, destroying the railway, I think, is to scare us, people inside the country, that they will somehow stop this aid, and to tell inside Russia that they have another victory," the Hetman said.
New package of military aid from the USA
On Wednesday, April 24, the USA announced a new $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine. President Joe Biden promised that arms deliveries to Ukraine would begin within a few hours, and earlier reports indicated that some of the aid was already in Europe.
The new package of military aid includes artillery shells, missiles for air defense systems, and a lot of armored vehicles, including Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
Additionally, in March-April, the USA secretly transferred over a hundred ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, which can fly up to 300 kilometers.
