Mariinsk is over 3,300 km from Ukraine, making it unlikely that the fire was caused by a Ukrainian drone attack, as their range has only reached up to 1,300 km so far. If the fire were linked to Ukraine, sabotage involving locals is more plausible. Ukraine's SBU security service has previously conducted operations targeting Siberian railways with explosives.
"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.
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.Fire and explosion at a traction substation of Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway in Mariinsk, Kemerovo Oblastб 3,300+ km from Ukraine
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) August 19, 2024
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
"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. Related:
- Railway explosion derails another freight train in Russia
- Ukrainska Pravda: SBU behind explosion on Russia’s strategic railway leading to China
- Freight train derails after explosion on railway in Crimea
- Fuel and timber train derails after explosion on railway in Bryansk Oblast, Russia
- Military: Ukraine targets railway support infrastructure in Russia’s Kursk Oblast
