2022 rail war in Belarus | |||
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Date | 28 February 2022dubious ] | – present[||
Caused by |
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Goals |
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Methods |
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Status | Ongoing | ||
Parties to the civil conflict | |||
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Casualties | |||
Arrested | 11[5] |
The rail war in Belarus is one of the Belarusian forms of grassroots action opposing the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[6][7]
At the end of February 2022, the first reports appeared in the media about sabotage on Belarusian railways in order to disable manpower, signalling control equipment, and the transport of military materiel by rail for military operations on the territory of Ukraine.[6]
Actions
Signaling equipment was destroyed in three Belarusian regions, and railway lines were blocked. As a result of these operations, the work of several branches of the Belarusian railway was disrupted. Since these days, sabotage has taken on a massive scale, and sabotage has been committed on many railway lines in the southern regions of Belarus.[6][7] There have been some 80 act of sabotage on Belarusian railways as of 12 April, based on data from the Belarusian Interior Ministry. The most common form of damage is setting fire to the signalling equipment. This disrupts the lights on the railway system, forcing trains to slow to 20–15 km/h (12.4–9.3 mph). A married couple set fire to the logs of military equipment kept by the railways. Other act of sabotage have involved the railways workers themselves as well as hackers attacking the computer system. Deputy Belarus Interior Minister has threatened to kill such individuals, in a statement in early March. Shots were fired at people attempting to set fire to a signal box, in late March.[8] In late April the lower house of Parliament passed a proposed law to apply the death penalty to sabotage.[9]
The opposition's actions greatly assisted Ukraine in defeating the Russian offensive which aimed to conquer Kyiv.[4]
See also
References
- ^ a b "В Беларуси началась «рельсовая война» против России (видео)".
- ^ a b "Белорусы ведут против российских войск "рельсовую войну"? | DW | 28.03.2022". Deutsche Welle.
- ^ "Internal troops of Belarus to be allowed to use special equipment to suppress unrest".
- ^ a b c d e Shy, Liz (23 April 2022). "The Belarusian railway workers who helped thwart Russia's attack on Kyiv". Washington Post. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
- ^ "Партизан приравняли к террористам. Как власти Беларуси пытаются остановить "рельсовую войну" против военных эшелонов РФ".
- ^ a b c "В Беларуси началась «рельсовая война» против России (видео)". ukrainenews.fakty.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ a b "Belarusian special forces guarding railways following sabotage".
- ^ "Why Belarus is yet to join Russia's invasion of Ukraine". openDemocracy. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
- ^ Reuters (2022-04-27). "Belarus eyes wider death penalty use after anti-war railway sabotage". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
External links
- Sly, Liz The Belarusian railway workers who helped thwart Russia’s attack on Kyiv The Washington Post (April 23, 2022)