Pro-Russian telegram channels spread the news that, near Odesa, “pro-Russian Ukrainians” caused a car accident, which led to the derailing of the train that had been transporting military aid for the Ukrainian army. Our fact-checkers looked into this news.
What happened?
On November 13, pro-Russian sources who systematically spread Russian disinformation, particularly Telegram channels Shkvarka News (Шкварка News) and account Perimeter ZOV (Периметр ZOV) on X, spread the news that reportedly near Odesa “partisan resistance” derailed “another” train with military aid for Ukrainian troops. As evidence, the post includes a photo of the train at the center of the car accident.
“Near Odesa, another train with western military aid was derailed. In Ukraine, partisan resistance is getting more popular, and it tries its best to bring Russia there faster and for the complete destruction of Ukrainian fascists. The population is scared; the [AFU] soldiers are running around with their weapons and threaten [people]. But underground activities are alive and getting stronger,” the post says.
The news contain links for the anonymous Telegram channel called PartiZans of Ukraine (ПартиZаны Украины), which is supposedly authored by “partisan resistance.” As of November 14, the audience of this channel is almost 25,000 subscribers.
Actually, the information about the train “derailed” by the Odesa partisan resistance with the picture from this post was first shared back in May 2024 (1, 2, 3).
Analysis
First, we checked the official sources for information about railway accidents in Odesa Oblast during November 12-13. We found that only one case of a railway accident was documented during that period. As such, on the morning of November 12, a truck hit a diesel locomotive in one of the settlements of the Veselokutsk village community of Odesa Oblast.
A preliminary investigation by the police showed that the car accident happened because of a violation of the traffic code by a truck driver who moved at the red light onto the railway. Analysis of the traffic accident’s description and photo of the accident location, published on the website of Odesa police, shows that the accident with the diesel locomotive doesn’t in any way relate to the story spread by pro-Russian channels.
For the next step, we’ve studied the image attached to the news in the Telegram channels through the Google reverse search and found that it documents the consequences of the road accident (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) that actually happened in Russia.
This car accident happened on September 19, 2026, at 7:55 a.m. on the railway bridge 25 km away from Ryazan, on the224 km of the Listvyanka-Perevles section of the Moscow railway. After the accident, the locomotive and part of the cisterns with oil and boiler oil fell off the rails and got thrown away.
The information about Odesa’s “partisan resistance” has been systematically spread by pro-Russian web resources, at least since 2023. We’ve already researched publications like this when pro-Russian channels spread false information about Ukraine using old photographs of railway accidents that really happened in Russia.
Now, we’re dealing with another fake piece of a similar nature. It’s aimed to disseminate disinformation about “Ukrainians with pro-Russian attitudes” and views to push the narrative “Odesa is a Russian city.” (Here’s our analysis of this particular sentiment in Ukrainian.)
We assume that the Telegram channel PartiZans of Ukraine (ПартиZаны Украины) which the posts lead to via clickbait is used to collect information and then utilize it for propagandist activities.
Conclusion: Fake
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