Рельсовая война · 1943–1944

Rail War

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The Rail War (Рельсовая война) was the organized strategy of mass railway sabotage conducted by Soviet partisans against German occupation forces during World War II, particularly in German-occupied Byelorussia and Ukraine. In June 1943 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia adopted a resolution 'On the Destruction of Enemy Railway Communications by the Rail War Method,' and the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement airlifted explosives and instructors to support it. Through three successive phases, Operation Rail War (August–September 1943), Operation Concert (September–October 1943), and a third stage coordinated with Operation Bagration in 1944, more than 100,000 partisans simultaneously blew up rails across the German rear, reducing Axis operational transport by up to 40 percent.

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  1. Wikipedia (RU) Russian Wikipedia article defining the Rail War as partisan actions aimed at disrupting enemy railway transport; covers the CPB resolution of June 1943, the three major operations (Rail War, Concert, Bagration), and the role of the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement and saboteur Ilya Starinov.
  2. Wikipedia (EN) English Wikipedia article confirming the Rail War as a WWII action of Soviet partisans in German-occupied Byelorussia and Ukraine, intended to disrupt logistics via destruction of rail lines, with data on the June 1943 CPB resolution and the scale of operations.
  3. soviethistory.msu.edu "Partisans in the Forest" by James von Geldern (Seventeen Moments in Soviet History, Michigan State University): notes the July 14, 1943 Supreme Military Command order for a coordinated assault on rail lines around Orel and Bryansk, and that by late 1943 partisan ranks swelled to over half a million.
  4. left-horizons.com Left Horizons article by Andy Ford (2024): details the rail war operations of summer 1943, including 10,000 charges laid on August 2 with 8,000 detonations, 266 locomotives damaged or destroyed, and the September paralysis of Gomel marshalling yards.
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