DPR restores railway in Debaltsevo, Ukrainian media responds by calling them 'terrorists'

© AP Photo/ Sergei Chuzavkov

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andrei Lysenko has confirmed that the DPR has restored the railway junction in Debaltseve in a matter of 12 days, following earlier reports that it had been completely destroyed and turned into "the surface of the moon."

"The Debaltseve railway junction has been restored. On March 3rd, ammunition was seen being unloaded from trains," Lysenko stated on Friday, cited by Ukraine's Podrobnosti.ua.

On February 19, Lysenko had reported that the Debaltseve railway junction had been destroyed. "The strategic Debaltseve railway junction has ceased to have any significance for the local region. The entire railway hub has been turned into the surface of the moon: everything has been destroyed."

Ukrainian media reporting on the restoration of the railway junction have characterized it as "terrorists restoring the railroad." Well-known Donetsk-based political scientist Vladimir Kornilov commented with sarcasm on the media's interesting approach on his Facebook page: "It's an uncommon occurrence, terrorists building railways! The brave Ukrainian army destroys them, while the terrorists build and build, restore and repair...They have really terrorized the local population with their construction projects and repairs!"

Donetsk People's Republic representatives recently reported that they have successfully restored 20 kilometers of railway line in areas damaged by fighting. Debaltseve has been under the control of DPR forces since February 18.

In late February, Ukraine's Highway Agency estimated 4.7 billion hryvnia (roughly $167.6 million US) in damage to the roads of war-torn Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Meanwhile, the Department of Economics of the Donetsk Regional Administration has estimated the destruction of over 10,000 objects of infrastructure, at a cost of nearly 3 billion hryvnia ($107 million).