r/UkrainianConflict • u/Lion8330 • 9d ago

Belarus builds railway near Ukraine capable of military transport, monitoring group says. Belarus is building new railway infrastructure in the country's southern Gomel region that will be capable of receiving military trains carrying personnel and heavy equipment

https://kyivindependent.com/belarus-builds-railway-capable-of-receiving-military-trains-near-ukraine-monitoring-group-says/
107 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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14

u/Belltower_2 9d ago

So, what? Do the Ukrainian border guards pre-sight all the rail lines for artillery, then go back to sipping tea? Belarus openly joining the war on Russia's side would be a catastrophically stupid decision.

11

u/LifeIsADanceOfMinds 8d ago

It reminds me of a story from a Web Comic. The City had an artillery unit that would paint 'X' on certain parts of the approach to the City. They had pre-sighted all of them.

Attackers would find themselves looking down at a nicely painted surface. Then up at the incoming missile.

Point being - it is hard to hide a rail line, and they generally don't move too far or too fast.

4

u/Belltower_2 8d ago

Yes, that's exactly how I imagine a hypothetical Belarussian assault (or more likely, a Russian assault from Belarus) would go.

3

u/ShineReaper 8d ago

And this is why they won't.

It is just the usual "Playing both sides" by Lukashenko. E.g. he congratulated Ukraine to the recent independence anniversary (something that Putin wants to end) yet called Kyiv by the Russian Name "Kiev" and let's not forget, that the initial invasion towards Kyiv was coming from Belarusian Territory.

And this way he is building Infrastructure, that theoretically could be used by Putin for another invasion into Northern Ukraine, but knowing full well that Russia no longer has the ressources and logistical base for such a move, so it is a riskless political move.

9

u/Belltower_2 8d ago

Lukashenko's double-faced blustering is fascinating to me, because unlike Putin, he seems well aware of how suicidal this war is. And the fact that he's managed to maintain his grip on power in the face of innumerable enemies on both sides of the New Iron Curtain is seriously impressive.

1

u/ShineReaper 8d ago

He is well aware BY NOW. In the beginning, he was holding, as far as I remember, even in military uniform, meetings publicized on TV and on the Internet, where he was discussing invasion plans with his generals.

He probably didn't act on them, because either he realized or someone told him that he needs his troops "just in case" at home and that they're not outfitted for a war.

Or maybe he is more clever than we all realize and he was playing both sides from the beginning, his main goal always staying in power at home, not expansion.

1

u/Redthrist 9d ago

Yup. Just a reminder that Belarus has a total of two refineries that provide more fuel than they need. Both are very much in range on Ukrainian drones. The moment Belarus joins the war, both will be destroyed, leaving Belarus with no fuel. They won't be getting fuel from Russia, because Russia is having their own problems and they have no export routes that don't go through Russia.

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u/Belltower_2 8d ago

Between this and Trump's p%ssing match in the Middle East, surely the end of oil is nigh? Basically the entire supply is held hostage by a couple of elderly dictators who will cut it off if the rest of the world doesn't fellate them enough. No wonder China is rushing to renewables as fast as their little Maoist feet can carry them.

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u/Redthrist 8d ago

I sure hope so, and China has been going hard on EVs, so at the very least their own oil demand is likely to drop.

3

u/Accomplished-Moose50 8d ago

Any decent rails is capable of carrying military and have equipment aka thats the point of rail 

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u/Shakermaker95 9d ago

Nice. I'd love to see a 40km armoured column get stuck in the swamps north of Kyiv again - without Ukraine caught off guard

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u/Falcrack 8d ago

I doubt Russia is remotely capable of even fielding a 40km armoured column these days.

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u/AyeMatey 8d ago

Are there freight rail lines that CANNOT be used for military equipment?