Russian court sentenced two defendants to three and a half years in prison after finding them guilty of conspiring to sabotage a railway in an area bordering Ukrainemedia reported today the first sabotage convictions since the start of the Russian invasion.

“Such actions would lead to a derailment, damage to military and railway equipment, casualties among conscripts,” the state-run Russian news agency TASS reported, citing a statement from an unnamed source at the Belgorod District Court.

TASS named the two convicts, but gave no further details about them.

Their convictions are the first based on Article 231 regarding Sabotage of the Russian Criminal Code since the start of what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, the agency reported.

According to the British Ministry of Defence, a number of incidents of sabotage against Russian railways and other facilities have occurred, mainly in regions bordering Ukraine, such as Belgorod and Bryansk.

The ministry said in a report in October that the Russian armed forces rely mainly on rail transport, which often passes through isolated areas, meaning “the system is very difficult to secure from threats”.

In another development, Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, told TASS in an interview yesterday, Monday, that more than 150 criminal investigations have been launched into statements defaming the Russian military.