Ukrainian drones hit a railway station in the city of Salsk in the Rostov region during the night, the third time in as many days as this key rail line was affected. The Russians use this line to provide troops in the occupied regions of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. Strikes are part of a greater Ukrainian effort to disrupt Russian rail traffic deeply behind the front lines, about 155 miles to the west. The rail is the backbone of logistics for Russia, which moves the vast majority of its equipment and its train supplies.
It seems that drones hitting Salsk station aimed “a train carrying military equipment and fuel and lubricants,” according to the Ukrainian military unit of the Khorne group. The “target of the drone strike was a military train of the Russian occupying forces moving towards the Ukrainian border”, the Ukrainian Militarnyi suggested media.
The local governor of the Salsk district reported “blows on two reservoir cars and the locomotive”, according to Svaboda radio.
A video emerging on social networks has shown the moment when drones hit the station, exploding flames and burning train cars. The attack delayed 18 passenger trains for more than seven hours, officials of the Russian railways reported, according to the official Russian Ria Novosti media.
One of the shared photos shows a military fire truck on a flat wagon.
Militnyi noted that it suggests that the attack could have targeted a military train heading to the Ukrainian border.
In addition to hitting the railway station, Ukrainian drones also struck an electrical substation of the train line on Tuesday in the city of Orlovsky, according to the Ukrainian channel Importova + Telegram. The sub-station is located about 35 miles northeast of Salsk and helps provide power to this line.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces shot 74 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 22 on Rostov Oblast.
Tuesday’s attacks follow a strike on Sunday in the Volgograd region in an electrical substation which feeds the same rail line.
“Following the drop in drone debris, the power supply to the rail contact network in the Oktyabrsky District was disrupted. Operational and repair services specialists, as well as Russian railways, work on the site to assess the damage and eliminate the consequences, “said the regional governor, according to the independent Russian Astra media.
A nocturnal drone shot has established a rail supply substation in fire of the Volgograd Oblast in Russia, cutting the power of the rail near Zhutovo and stop flights.
Russia’s military logistics depends on rail transport.
Last week, Ukrainian drones attacked another key railway center in this region, Militarnyi reported. The attack took place in “the urban colony of Kamenolomna”, explained the publication. “Kamenolomni is one of the main rail junctions in the southern corridor and has significant strategic importance. The station is located in southern Russia, along the Rostov -on -Don – Taganrog – Donetsk road, and plays an important role in transporting military equipment. ”
These railway strikes “have repeatedly targeted the infrastructure along the railway, which serves both the industry and the supply of Russian forces, including those of Donetsk and Luhansk”, a well -known Ukrainian milblogger and a reserve officer that exceeds the pseudonym Tatarigami Notté on X. “The model points to a deliberate and systematic effort to disturb the route.”
“Overall, our team notes a systematic approach with a deliberate target selection,” added TatarigamiFounder of Fronelligence Insight, an analytical group of all sources / Osint / Geoing. “The train strike carrying in fuel suggests that Ukraine had detailed the information to time the attack precisely.”
7 / We previously noted that this railway line is important because of its links with the main industrial industrial sites and installations, including aerodromes. At the same time, it is neither the biggest nor the only line in the region, suggesting a deeper intention behind the strikes
Ukraine also attacks the railway lines much closer to the front lines, on the territory occupied by Russia. In May, the Ukrainian Directorate of Defense Intelligence (GUR) led a drone attack on a Russian fuel train in the Zaporizhzhia region. It was the first attack of this type in Ukraine in five months.
“At least three oil tankers were destroyed,” Gur said in a press release accompanying a video he published showing several strokes on the moving target, causing large explosions and heavy shots.
May 24, 2025, Gur Ukraine took a Russian fuel train with Owa-Uav IVO 47.091981, 35.318199 Novobohdanivka, Zaporizhia.
3+ tank top cars and more than 50,000 fuel gallons destroyed 1+ damaged / destroyed cartridge
Gur is not only based on drone strikes in this campaign. The intelligence department also works with residents who support Ukraine. Supporters have made sabotage attacks, an explosion of railways, attacker trains and disabling rail equipment.
“Another successful operation of the resistance movement against Russian invaders in cooperation with” Gur took place on June 26, 2025 in the occupation of Zaporizhia, said management.
“The railroad was destroyed following an explosion,” noted Gur. “The movement along the section actively used by the Russian invaders for logistics has been paralyzed for more than a week.”
A week later, the supporters struck again, attacking a locomotive.
“The enemy locomotive was disabled,” according to Gur. “One of the main logistical branches of the occupation army in the Zaporizhzhia region is again blocked.”
Russia has also struck the Ukrainian rail. Last month, a missile attack on a traveler train in Dnipro injured several people, destroyed several train cars and damaged traces. It was part of a larger attack on Dnipro which killed at least 21 people.
The Russians continue to become more and more disadvantaged and cruel. I do not remember that they have already taken a train full of civilians and children before. Railways, yes … but not trains.
People inside cannot escape the Russian missiles. There are many victims. Children cry and cry. It is… pic.twitter.com/ynldwsxcgx
Russian attacks on rail are much less frequent than those led by Ukraine, which seem to increase.
“There is an increase [on train attacks] In comparison with 2023 and 2024, that’s for sure, ” Tatarigami told us. “Especially if we are talking about successful tactical strikes.”
With Salsk station always smoking, it is not clear if Ukraine intends to hit this line again. There are other Russian train lines of even greater logistical importance, Tatarigami Added.
The attacks could be part of “a kind of formatting operation”, before a larger attack, Tatarigami laid. “Or it is just an isolated case, where Ukraine simply located a vulnerable place and hired it, without other plans.”
In any case, Russian rail traffic has been interrupted and the rolling stock was destroyed. Although the lasting effect is not clear, these attacks come when Ukraine continues to lose ground in the East while being forced to send troops to the northern region of Sumy to help defend itself against a Russian offensive there. Repeated strikes on Russian rail logistics help relieve part of this pressure.
While Ukraine has been attacking Russian trains since the start of the total invasion, its new long -range drones allow strikes much deeper in Russian territory.
