Railway Explosion in Crimea Disrupts Kalibr Missile Supplies to Black Sea – British Intelligence

An explosion on railway tracks in Russian-occupied Crimea has disrupted the delivery of supplies and weapons, including Kalibr cruise missiles, to the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet, according to a report by the UK Ministry of Defence on Twitter, citing intelligence data.

“On 18 May, a train derailed near Simferopol, blocking the only track towards the port of Sevastopol, which serves as the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” British intelligence said.  

The occupiers’ railway authorities, suspecting sabotage, reported this was due to “interference by outsiders.”

 “Russia will move to repair the track quickly, but the incident will disrupt deliveries of supplies and potentially also weaponry the supply of weapons such as Kalibr cruise missiles for the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” the UK intelligence statement said. 

“Any sabotage in this sensitive area would further increase the Kremlin’s concerns about its ability to protect other key infrastructure in Crimea. The peninsula retains a vital psychological and logistical role enabling Russia's war in Ukraine,” British intelligence said.

Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, commented during a telethon that the Crimean railway is “tired” of the constant transportation of weapons.

“Those tracks are used, among other things, to transport weapons, ammunition, armored vehicles, and other means used in the war of aggression against Ukraine to kill Ukrainian civilians and defenders,” Yusov said.

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“It is quite natural that these tracks have failed, got tired, and are now out of service for some time.”

According to Kyiv’s intelligence representative, “normal infrastructure will start working when Crimea returns to Ukraine.”

Since the beginning of this year, there have been at least 57 attempted sabotage attacks in Russia and the temporarily occupied Crimea. 

The targets have been primarily the railway, the Russian Ministry of Defense, and energy facilities –   reported the Russian publication Verstka. Most often in 2023, saboteurs set fire to relay cabinets on the railways – 36 such cases have been recorded so far this year.