Ukrainian drone flies 400 km in Russia to destroy tracks and a tanker train

A Ukrainian drone has successfully destroyed a track and a freight train at Kotluban station in the Volgograd region of the Russian Federation, which is located more than 400 km from the front line.

Here's What We Know

Russian resources report that on the night of 14 May 2024, a UAV destroyed a train containing fuel tanks at Kotluban station. According to preliminary data, 9 tanks derailed, two of which caught fire and one exploded.

However, videos posted on social media show that there were also wagons with wood and scrap at the station, and one video even recorded the "demolition" of a 130-tonne locomotive.

At first, Russian sources tried to hide the real cause of the damage, pointing to "unauthorised interference", but later admitted that it was a Ukrainian drone attack.

It is likely that the Ukrainian Defence Forces targeted the train because Kotluban station is located near an important rocket and artillery arsenal of the Russian Defence Ministry's GRU (military unit 57229/51). Damage to the track may make it difficult to remove ammunition from this depot for some time.

Interestingly, the attacks on Kotluban clearly show a systematic pattern: Ukrainian drones have been used in the area several times. The first ones were on 16 and 24 November 2023, as well as on 8 March 2024.

Source: Defence Express