The FSB reported on the detention of a 42-year-old Belarusian suspected of blowing up two trains with oil products in Buryatia on November 29 and 30 in the longest tunnel of the BAM. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the press service of the department.
“A terrorist act prepared by the special services of Ukraine, aimed at destroying critical transport and energy infrastructure facilities, has been uncovered,” the FSB added and clarified that the suspect was detained in the Omsk region.
According to the security forces, a Belarusian blew up two trains that followed the Taishet-Tynda and Taishet-Neryungri routes along the Baikal-Amur Mainline in Buryatia. The outcries led to “the ignition of tanks containing fuel and lubricants and a temporary blocking of traffic along the transport route.”
According to the FSB, the detainee admitted that he took eight explosive devices from the cache and then planted them on the tanks of freight trains. He did this, the security forces added, on the instructions of a compatriot living in Lithuania, who was given instructions by the Ukrainian special services.
Previously, it was known about an explosion between the Itykit and Okushikan stations in the Severomuysk railway tunnel, part of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, which occurred on the evening of November 29. Initially, the case was opened under an article on violation of traffic safety rules and operation of railway transport (Part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code). Later, a case of a terrorist attack appeared (part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code).
The Severomuysky tunnel is the longest tunnel both as part of the Baikal-Amur Mainline and in Russia as a whole. Its length exceeds 15 kilometers. Before its opening in 2003, trains followed a bypass line with lower capacity. Explaining the reason for choosing the tunnel for sabotage, Ukrainian media sources and CNN called this route “the only major railway connection between Russia and China.”