Ukraine blows up main railway connection between Russia and China

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politico.eu

Ukraine’s security service blew up a railway connection linking Russia to China, in a clandestine strike carried out deep into enemy territory, with pro-Kremlin media reporting that investigators have opened a criminal case into a “terrorist attack.”

The SBU set off several explosions inside the Severomuysky tunnel of the Baikal-Amur highway in Buryatia, located some 6,000 kilometers east of Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official with direct knowledge of the operation told POLITICO.

“This is the only serious railway connection between the Russian Federation and China. And currently, this route, which Russia uses, including for military supplies, is paralyzed,” the official said.

Four explosive devices went off while a cargo train was moving inside the tunnel. “Now the (Russian) Federal Security Service is working on the spot, the railway workers are unsuccessfully trying to minimize the consequences of the SBU special operation,” the Ukrainian official added.

Ukraine’s security service has not publicly confirmed the attack. Russia has also so far not confirmed the sabotage.

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It is not the only railway connection. And there is still the original route from before this tunnel was built. So not sure how big the impact is.

Source wikipedia

I know virtually nothing about the Russian train system. Are all the routes able to carry the same loads? Older lines may have narrower tunnels, weaker bridges, etc. that are unable to transport the larger/heavier loads that Russia hopes to bring from China…

Edit: Track gauge is another question. I did some quick Googling and it looks like Russia used to use 1,524 mm gauge while China uses 1,435 mm. If those other lines aren’t compatible with China then it means cargo would need to be unloaded from their trains at the border and then reloaded onto Russian trains. That would slow things down tremendously.

Generally yes your lines can carry the same loads and have the same gauge. You want your internal logistics to be straightforward.

Fun fact: Russia chose a different gauge to make it more difficult to invade them.

That is pretty clever

They have all sorts of interesting things. Their mortars are 1mm larger diameter. So if they capture enemy supplies, they can fire them (with a little less accuracy). If the west captures Russian mortars and tries to fire them (in western barrels) they run the risk of jamming and exploding.

That might have something to do with Soviet production culture affecting precision, not preventing the potential adversary from firing Soviet ammunition. That is, done so that Soviet mortars wouldn't sometimes explode firing Soviet ammo.

N. Korea uses a smaller gauge.

And their logistics runs off trains so they have a giant problem when invading others, only same gauge can be used reliably and rail stations are a huge target

Yeah but they're more afraid of being invaded. See history.

Explosions hit both the tunnel and the bridge.

The tunnel will certainly be hit at some point and flooded.