Ukrainian Troops Claim To Blow Up Russian Armored Train, But President Zelensky's Adviser Says It Just Hit The Rails, How Come?

JAKARTA - The difference in claims comes when Ukrainian troops say they succeeded in blowing up a Russian armored train, while the country's top official said it only hit the tracks Wednesday.

The Ukrainian defense forces posted on Facebook claiming that they had succeeded in carrying out an attack on a Russian armored train in the town of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, southern Ukraine, reported Reuters May 19.

It was not explained in detail how severe the damage was. However, they claim to have detonated explosives under a carriage carrying Russian military personnel.

Citing Newsweek, Anton Gerashchenko, adviser at the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, and Ivan Fedorov, the elected mayor of Melitopol, posted on social media that Ukrainian troops detonated a Russian armored train.

Gerashchenko said in a Twitter post on Wednesday that explosives were detonated under a train carriage carrying Russian personnel.

"Train tracks damaged, number of victims and casualties are now being determined," the post reads.

Gerashchenko also shared a photo of what appears to be the targeted train, although no major damage was immediately apparent in the image.

Fedorov also briefly mentioned the explosion in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

"Melitopol partisans together with Ukrainian special services carried out a long-range blast from the armored train of the Russian invaders," the post reads, according to the translation.

But hours later, Presidential Adviser Volodymyr Zelensky, Oleksiy Arestovych gave a conflicting report, saying Ukrainian troops had blown up the tracks in front of the train.

"The partisans got it, even though they didn't blow up the armored train themselves," he said in a video posted on social media.

However, Arestovych said the incident showed that the partisan movement was actively interfering with Russian troops. Meanwhile, Ukrainian news reports say partisans have been operating actively in Melitopol.

️ partisans have blown up the occupier's armored train in #Melitopol. An explosive charge detonated under the train car carrying the personnel. The railway track are damaged, a number of casualties and fatalities is now being specified.#UkraineUnderAttaсk #UkraineRussianWar

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) May 18, 2022