Ukrainian media says train fire in Russia’s longest tunnel was special operation

A freight train carrying diesel fuel on the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) Railway caught fire inside Russia’s longest rail tunnel on Wednesday, Russian Railways has announced.

The incident took place in the 15-kilometre long Severomuysky Tunnel in the Siberian region of Buryatia. Having noticed smoke, the crew reportedly stopped the train and called for two fire trains to be dispatched. 

“Some of the carriages have been brought out of the tunnel. Train traffic was not interrupted,” the Russian Railways statement said, adding that there had been no casualties.

Ukrainian media sources claimed that the fire was an operation carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). 

“Four explosive devices were detonated while the freight train was moving. The Russian Federal Security Service is on site and railway workers are unsuccessfully trying to minimise the consequences of this SBU special operation,” a law enforcement source told newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.

Another law enforcement source told independent Ukrainian news website Hromadske that the route was “the only significant rail connection between Russia and China … which Russia also uses for military supplies”, adding that it was now “paralysed”.

The SBU has not officially claimed responsibility for the fire, although Ukrainian intelligence posted that “rail disruptions are becoming more frequent in Russia” on its Telegram channel.