(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . What happened in Buryatia? A local media review [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-05 East portal of the Severomuysky Tunnel, above it the bridge at the eastern end of the mountain bypass route that joins the main line a little later The shaky «Devil's Bridge», «Чертов мост», length 360 m, 35 m over ground, at the western end of the mountain bypass route, passing over the Itykit River Preliminary note: In what follows, I cannot avoid quoting local Buryat media extensively, but the purpose of the exercise is to propagate the consideration of local media before we take sensationalist reports about the railway incidents in Buryatia at full value. After the alleged refugee crisis on Finland's eastern border, the events in Buryatia are another prime example of this. ¶ Let's start with the reporting in the Ukrainian press: It reports two attacks on Russian rail infrastructure, based on intelligence information, which paralyzes a main axis of freight traffic from North Korea and China: KyivPost, November 30, 2023, 12:04: Ukraine’s SBU Blows Up Freight Train in Rail Tunnel Deep Inside Russia: The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) blew up a freight train in a tunnel on a vital rail link between Russia and China, sources have told Kyiv Post. The operation, conducted overnight, struck in the Severomuysky Tunnel on the Baikal Amur Mainline (BAM) deep inside Russia, north of Mongolia. A source in Ukraine’s military leadership told Kyiv Post four explosions targeted the train as it passed through the tunnel. They added: «Currently, the Russians use this route, including for military supplies. After the explosion, it was paralyzed». The source said Russian security services were investigating at the scene and workers were trying to make the tunnel operational again. There is currently no information on the extent of the damage to the tunnel itself. KyivPost, December 1, 2023, 12:30: SBU Strikes Again: Another Train Blown Up On Critical Russian Rail Line: The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has blown up a second train in two days on the Baikal-Amur railway line deep inside Russia, sources have told Kyiv Post. A source in Ukraine’s military leadership said it was a carefully planned operation that took advantage of the chaos caused by a strike a day previously in the Severomuysky Tunnel. «The Russians were twice trapped by the SBU – another fuel train exploded on the Baikal-Amur railway line», the source said. In order to circumvent the damage caused by the first attack, Russian trains began using another route that passes through the «Chortov Most» («Devil's Bridge»), a semicircular viaduct on the Northern bypass of the Baikal-Amur line. «This is precisely what the SBU was counting on: when the train was passing over this 35-meter high bridge, the explosive devices embedded in it went off», the source said. Defense Express, December 2, 2023: Ukraine is the First in History to Successfully Strike russian Infrastructure Beyond Urals: Yesterday, Ukrainian media received unofficial confirmations from sources in security forces, that the Ukrainian secret services had sabotaged two essential railway lines deep in russia. Firstly, the Severomuysky Tunnel of the Baikal–Amur Mainline, and then the Devil's Bridge, a backup detour. How effective it was in the context of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, is a question yet to debate upon, since all the post-Soviet «1’520 mm gauge railways» have always been underperforming, resulting in various «occasions», and thus the rail workers've had plenty of practice patching up the problematic tracks. The undisputed fact, though, is that Ukraine became the first country in history to land a successful blow beyond the Urals. ¶ In the meantime, the question of the «extent of the damage to the tunnel itself» has been settled: as we will see, I consider the information from Russian Railways to be credible: Russian Railways on telegram, December 2, 2023, 16:58 reported the resumption of operations: Train traffic on the Itykit–Okusikan section [Severomuysky Tunnel] of the East Siberian Railway has been fully restored. At 18.20 Moscow time a freight train passed through the Severomuysky Tunnel. More than 120 people and special equipment were involved to resume the railroad communication, as well as to eliminate the consequences of the accident. Train traffic was not interrupted, it was organized by a bypass section with a slight increase in travel time. All passenger trains were put back on schedule. ¶ It is well known that Russian media systematically spread misinformation, as is generally the case with the war in Ukraine. What is less likely is that local media falsify information of local importance, about road conditions or information on public transport, to give an example, that affects the everyday lives of their followers: Arig Us, located in Ulan-Ude, is a non-governmental television and radio station in the Republic of Buryatia, reported the event in the Severomuysky Tunnel as follows: ArigUs [Ulan-Ude], November 30, 2023, 12:02: Smoke occurred in a railroad tunnel in Buryatia. There was a train there at the time: The day before, on November 29, there was smoke during the movement of a freight train through the Severomuysky Tunnel. The incident was recorded at the Itykit–Okusikan crossing at 22:18 hours, reported in the [Viber private] group «Severobaikalye-info.24/7» with reference to the East Siberian Railway. There are no casualties. Fire trains from Okusikan [east] and Novy Uoyan [west] stations [of the tunnel] were sent to the place of the accident, – the report says. Railway workers have organized the movement of trains on the bypass section. Also, according to the East Siberian Railway, a special commission was set up at the site. ArigUs [Ulan-Ude], November 30, 2023, 16:23: In Buryatia, smoke in the tunnel was caused by a burning car with fuel. It was reported earlier that it went up in smoke when a freight train was passing there: In Buryatia, smoke in a tunnel was caused by a burning fuel tank. Details of an incident in a BAM railroad tunnel have become known. As it turned out, at the Itykit–Okusikan crossing in the Severomuysky Tunnel of the BAM railroad tunnel a tank car with fuel was on fire. The circumstances of the incident are being established by the investigators of the Eastern Interregional Investigative Directorate for Transport of Russia. According to preliminary data, at night on November 29, when a freight train was passing the Severomuysky Tunnel at a distance of about 4 km from the village of Taksimo [*], a fuel tank car caught fire. The extent of damage is being established. At the moment, some of the cars have been taken outside. To eliminate the consequences of the fire a recovery train is involved. There are no casualties. The causes of the fire of the tank car are established, – said the investigators. Recall, the fire occurred on November 29 at approximately 22:18 hours. Two fire trains were sent to the scene of the incident from Okusikan and Novy Uoyan stations. Now the movement of trains is going along the bypass section. In addition, specialists are now conducting an investigation under part 1 of Art. 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation [Violation of the Rules for Traffic Safety]. A set of measures is being carried out on site to establish the details of the incident. [*] Something is wrong here: Taksimo is more than a hundred km east of Okusikan. ArigUs [Ulan-Ude], December 02, 2023, 15:55: In Buryatia, the car that burst into flames in the tunnel could be the result of a terrorist attack. Recall, the incident occurred on November 29 at the Itykit–Okusikan line: In Buryatia, a car that burst into flames in a tunnel could be the result of a terrorist attack. Recall, the incident occurred on November 29 at the Itykit–Okusikan crossing. During the movement of a freight train through the Severomuysky Tunnel there was smoke. As the Eastern Interregional Investigation Department of the Directorate for Transport of Russia reported later, the smoke was caused by a burning fuel tank car. According to preliminary data, at night on November 29, when a freight train was passing the Severomuysky Tunnel at a distance of about 4 km from the village of Taksimo, a tank car with fuel caught fire. There were no casualties. The amount of damage is established, – specified in the department. The day before, December 1, it became known that the cause of the fuel tanker fire in the freight train could have been the explosion of an unidentified explosive device. This was reported by an RBK [media] source in the territorial police department and confirmed by a source in the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. «Presumably, the explosive was under the tank», said the source RBK [media]. In addition, the publication quoted Kommersant [daily news] as saying that a criminal case has already been opened over the incident. Kommersant quoting sources reported that investigators of the Eastern Interregional Investigative Directorate for Transport have already opened a criminal case under part 1 of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (terrorist act). 1 article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation [Contributing to Terrorist Activity]. According to the latest information, traffic inside Russia's longest railroad tunnel is currently suspended and trains are being bypassed. ArigUs [Ulan-Ude], December 03, 2023, 10:23: Traffic in the railroad tunnel in Buryatia fully restored On the site worked 120 people and special equipment: The traffic through the Severomuysky Tunnel has been fully restored. This was reported in the district [Viber private] group «Severobaikalye-info.24/7» with reference to the Russian Railways. 120 people and special equipment worked on the site to resume railroad communication. «Movement of trains at the Itykit–Okusikan crossing was not interrupted, it was organized by a bypass section with a slight increase in travel time. All passenger trains are on schedule», Russian Railways said. As a result, the day before at 23:20 a freight train was able to pass through the tunnel. Recall, the incident occurred on November 29 at the Itykit–Okusikan crossing. During the movement of the freight train through the tunnel there was smoke. The cause was a burning fuel tank. ¶ An even remotely plausible sequence of events in the tunnel cannot be reconstructed from these reports: «there was smoke during the movement of a freight train through the Severomuysky Tunnel», which could mean that smoke escaped from one of the two tunnel exits, completely puzzling is «when a freight train was passing the Severomuysky Tunnel at a distance of about 4 km from the village of Taksimo, a fuel tank car caught fire»: if by «Taksimo» is meant «Okusikan», this would mean that the event occurred 4 km from the Eastern tunnel entrance: we don't know. ¶ That's it for the event in the Severomuysky Tunnel; Buryat Arig Us provides no information about the event on the Devil's Bridge, apart from the quoted message «Movement of trains at the Itykit–Okusikan crossing was not interrupted, it was organized by a bypass section with a slight increase in travel time. All passenger trains are on schedule». Was it not reported here because the event took place in an inaccessible mountain region and traffic was hardly affected, business as usual? To quote Ukrainian Defense Express, December 2, 2023: How effective it was in the context of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, is a question yet to debate upon, since all the post-Soviet «1’520 mm gauge railways» have always been underperforming, resulting in various «occasions», and thus the rail workers've had plenty of practice patching up the problematic tracks. Information on the incident on the Devil's Bridge cannot be found in other Buryat media either: these can only be found in the Russian media with a wider reach like Kommersant, mainly based on Ukrainian and other Western sources like CNN. Here is a final Buryat report from today, December 5, 2023: UlanMedia [Ulan-Ude], December 5, 2023, 11:28: The Severomuisky Tunnel after the terrorist attack was inspected by the Russian Deputy Transport Minister and the head of Buryatia. The fire did not affect the main body of the tunnel: At Okusikan station, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Evgeny Filippov and the head of Buryatia Alexei Tsydenov met with the employees of the East Siberian Railway. Here at the Itykit–Okusikan crossing there was smoke in one of the diesel fuel tanks while traveling through the tunnel. The incident was qualified as a terrorist attack in the Eastern Interregional Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for Transport. Foreign media called the incident an «SBU operation». In the telegram channel 18+ East Siberian Railway noted that to eliminate the consequences of the sabotage attracted more than 120 people and special equipment. While the tunnel was closed, the trains followed the bypass section, the increase in travel time was insignificant. «50 meters of rails, about 200 intermediate crossties, 750 insulators were replaced. The fire has not affected the main body of the tunnel, safety is ensured for today», Tsydenov and Phillipov reported during the movement of the train in the Severomuysky Tunnel (video). ¶ What conclusions should we draw from this case? We are all too susceptible to sensationalism and we make insufficient use of the oportunities to inform us from foreign sources with the help of translation programs. «Ukraine Matters’» video «Ukraine breaks Russian main supply line» has gone the furthest out on a limb by classifying the event in the Severomuysky Tunnel as more decisive than a Kerch Bridge collapse. Apart from the fact that the Baikal-Amur Mainline is not the only line for freight traffic in Siberia, the connection was interrupted for just about 72 hours. Just that. The fact that the Severomuysky Tunnel was put back into operation within three days after a fire, with 120 people involved in an extremely confined space, is a logistical masterpiece that suggests that an appropriate experience is abundant, as mentioned by Defense Express. Looking at it from the other side: successful attacks on railroad structures are extremely difficult to carry out, but this is not a new insight. ¶ P.S. The story has one more footnote: A second Severomuysky Tunnel was obviously being planned, and what could be more suitable to push its realization forward than an enemy sabotage action: again Buryat UlanMedia [Ulan-Ude], December 5, 2023, 11:28: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/5/2209572/-What-happened-in-Buryatia-A-local-media-review?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/