Fire at Russia’s Trans-Siberian railway halts traffic for two hours (video)

Overnight on 19 August, a blaze erupted in Russia's Mariinsk, Kemerovo Oblast, Siberia. The fire occurred at a traction substation of the Trans-Siberian Railway, connecting Siberia and Russia's Far East with European Russia and crucial for Russia's military logistics.

"Fire and explosion at a traction substation of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Mariinsk, Kemerovo Region," the Russian Telegram channel ChK-ORPU captioned a video of the fire.

Fire and explosion at a traction substation of Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway in Mariinsk, Kemerovo Oblastб 3,300+ km from Ukraine

Russian Telegram channel Astra reports that a fire train extinguished the blaze overnight, halting train traffic for two hours. The transportation… pic.twitter.com/x2sONnN6mT

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) August 19, 2024

Another Russian Telegram channel, Astra, later reported the fire at a "traction substation of the Krasnoyarsk Railway" left Mariinsk, Kemerovo Oblast, without power last night.

"During the night, the fire was extinguished by a fire train, but the incident was able to stop train traffic for two hours," Astra wrote.

According to Astra, the transportation prosecutor's office said that the preliminary cause of the fire was a "technical malfunction."

At the time of this article's publication, no Ukrainian security agency had claimed responsibility for the attack.

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