World

Russia has moved an armored military train into Ukraine from Crimea, video shows

March 9, 2022 7:30 am

[Source: CNN News]

A nine-car long armoured Russian military train has been moved into Ukraine’s Kherson region from Crimea, according to a video posted on social media.

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the video. It was first posted online by Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov on Monday but incorrectly located.

An eyewitness took a video of the train as it was passing through Novooleksiivka, Ukraine. The small town of Novooleksiivka is roughly 20 miles northeast of Russia-annexed Crimea and 55 miles southwest of Melitopol, Ukraine, which is currently under Russian military occupation.

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The video shows that the train — the letter “Z” has been painted on some of the cars — has at least two apparent gunner cars.

The train is made up of two flatbed cars, one of which appears to be carrying a shrouded military vehicle and one other car.

In the video, a woman is heard yelling profanities at the Russian troops, in addition to, “Glory to Ukraine.”

A video report from Russian state media outlet Channel One in February 2020 gave an extensive look at the Baikal, one of Russia’s two armoured trains. It’s unclear from the video whether the train seen in Novooleksiivka is the Baikal train.

The report claimed the Baikal has a communications jammer on-board to keep their communications covert and to not reveal their location. The Baikal is also were equipped with anti-aircraft turrets, 20mm thick walls, in addition to machine gun and sniper stations. It also has a kitchen and dining room for the train crew.

Prior to the invasion, Russia utilized its state-owned railroad company to transport and position many of its troops on the Ukrainian border in both Russia and Belarus.

Josh Pennington contributed reporting to this post.