An “explosive device” caused the derailment and fire of a freight train in a Russian border region with Ukraine on Monday, without injuries, the authorities said.
While around 20,000 Russian fighters have died in Ukraine since December, according to the United States, on Monday 1 April Ukraine withdrew from the World Judo Championships in Qatar at the end of the week to protest against the presence of Russian athletes to protest at this competition. Here’s what to remember from this new day in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
In Russia, an “explosive device” derails a freight train near Ukraine
An “explosive device” derailed and set fire to a freight train in Russia’s Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine on Monday, a rare incident that authorities said claimed no victims. For fear of acts of sabotage and attacks in Russia, a high-voltage power line was also damaged by an explosive device in the Leningrad region in north-western Russia on Monday.
The incidents came a day after a Ukrainian attack that killed four people in a village in the Bryansk region and two days after a drone strike that caused a huge fire at an oil depot in annexed Crimea. Belarus, a Moscow-allied country that serves as a base for Russian troops, has in recent months reported sabotage on its railroads and arrested people accused of orchestrating such actions.
According to the United States, 20,000 Russian militants have died in Ukraine since December
US intelligence estimates that 20,000 Russian militants have been killed in Ukraine since December and another 80,000 injured in action, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a news conference.
This official stated that half of the dead belonged to the private Russian military group Wagner and were mostly former prisoners who were “thrown into the fighting at Bakhmout (eastern Ukraine) without training or sufficient military command.” “The conclusion is that Russia’s offensive has backfired,” said John Kirby. On the other hand, he refused to comment on Ukraine’s losses. “It’s up to them to talk about it or not. I will never make anything public that makes it difficult for them. They are the victims, Russia is the aggressor,” he said.
Russian attacks: one dead in south and 34 wounded in eastern Ukraine
Russian attacks on Ukraine on Sunday night left one dead and three wounded in the southern Kherson region and 34 wounded in the eastern Dnepropetrovsk region, local authorities said. Moscow fired rockets at Ukrainian cities in the early hours of the morning, which Kiev forces said were mostly neutralized. “The Russian army targeted the residential quarters of the populated areas of the region (Kherson) and an official building in the center (the city) of Kherson,” the head of the local military administration told Telegram. , Oleksandr Prokudin.
Ukraine withdraws from Judo Worlds to protest the presence of Russians and Belarusians
The Ukrainian Judo Federation announced on Monday that it would not send a delegation to the World Judo Championships in Qatar from May 7-14 due to the presence of Russian and Belarusian judokas. The Ukrainian federation claims that some of these judokas are also active soldiers. The International Judo Federation (IJF) on Sunday gave the green light for Russians and Belarusians to participate in these world championships on condition that they do so individually and as neutral athletes.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said in late March that Russian and Belarusian athletes could “compete as neutral individual athletes” as long as they do not “actively support the war in Ukraine” and are not “under contract” with the military or Security authorities of one of the two countries. However, the IOC has yet to decide on the participation of representatives of these two countries in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.