Russian forces are no longer able to use the railway line linking Crimea with the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, which the Russians have occupied since the early days of the invasion, according to Serhii Khlan, advisor to the head of Kherson’s Civil Military Administration.
“This is the branch that went through Kalanchak, Brylivka to the Oleshky railway station and across the railway bridge to Kherson itself,” he said, adding that another route was from Crimea to Melitopol.
“It was there that the occupiers delivered their railway trains and unloaded them a little further beyond Novooleksiyivka in Henichesk district. Another convoy with equipment and ammunition was destroyed there yesterday,” he added.
CNN reported Tuesday there had been explosions in the Henichesk area.
Ukrainian forces — combat aircraft, missiles and long-range rockets — have focused on hitting Russian supply lines, command centers and ammunition supplies in Kherson for more than a month.
Russian ground forces typically depend on railroad links to move armor and munitions.
Meanwhile, in the neighboring Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, the mayor said resistance and attacks continue — just as Russian troops there are being reinforced.
Mayor Ivan Fedorov, who is no longer in the city himself, said on Ukrainian television that Tuesday “was the third hellish night for the occupiers on the territory of occupied Melitopol.”
He said two explosions were heard on Tuesday evening near the village of Kyrylivka, a coastal settlement on the Sea of Azov.
“Thick smoke was then observed for several hours,” Fedorov said. “Over the past few weeks, the occupiers have taken a large amount of equipment to the shore of the estuary at Radyvonivka, as well as to the shore of the Sea of Azov near Kyrylivka.”
Fedorov also claimed that “guerrillas” on Tuesday night had damaged the office of Russia’s governing United Russia party, which had been established in Melitopol.
He also repeated claims that Russian forces were preventing people from leaving Melitopol.
“People are leaving the occupied territories en masse. Evacuation is very difficult. The occupiers did not release the cars for two days. …The number of deaths in the exit queue has reached 10. Currently, more than 1,000 cars are waiting to exit,” he claimed.
Fedorov said that the Russians were forcing people to send their children to Russia-backed schools.
“The occupiers use several methods to force parents to send their children to schools to study according to the Russian curriculum. The occupiers reported that starting Sept. 1, they will not let children outside the occupied territory. Those parents who bring their children to school will receive 10,000 rubles as financial aid from the occupiers,” he said.
CNN is unable to confirm the allegations.
