In a devastating incident, two railway bridges collapsed in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk regions, resulting in at least seven fatalities and numerous injuries. The tragedies unfolded late Saturday and early Sunday, with local officials attributing the Bryansk collapse to an explosion.
The Bryansk region saw a passenger train derail after a highway bridge collapsed onto the tracks. The train, which was traveling from the border town of Klimov to Moscow, had 388 passengers on board. Bryansk Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz reported that seven people were killed and 66 injured, with 47 requiring hospitalization. Among the injured were three children, one of whom is in serious condition.
"There was an explosion on the bridge while the train was moving," Bogomaz stated during an interview on Rossiya-24 TV, as reported by TASS. The train operator, Moscow Railway, indicated that the derailment was due to "illegal interference in transport operations."
In a separate incident, a freight train derailed in the Kursk region when a bridge collapsed beneath it. Acting Governor Alexander Khinshtein confirmed that part of the train fell onto a road below the bridge. He noted that the locomotive caught fire but was quickly extinguished. One crew member sustained leg injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
Andrei Klishas, chairman of Russia's Federation Council Committee on State Construction, suggested that Ukraine was behind the Bryansk incident, labeling the country as a "terrorist enclave." He stated, "The blowing up of the bridge and the derailment of the passenger train in the Bryansk region indicate that Ukraine is controlled by a terrorist group."
Ukrainian officials have not commented on the incidents. However, Ukraine's intelligence services have previously claimed responsibility for attacks on Russian railway networks aimed at disrupting military logistics. Recently, Ukrainian military intelligence reported an explosion on a railway in occupied southern Ukraine that derailed a freight train heading toward Crimea.
The ongoing conflict has seen frequent cross-border attacks from Ukraine into the Russian regions of Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod since Russia's full-scale invasion began over three years ago. The Ministry of Emergency Situations in Russia stated that rescue operations continued throughout the night in Bryansk, involving around 180 personnel.
Social media footage captured the chaos as passengers attempted to assist others from the damaged train carriages. The train was traveling through the Vygonichskyi district of Bryansk, approximately 60 miles from the Ukrainian border. The situation remains fluid as authorities investigate the causes of the bridge collapses.