A Russian freight train derailed this Monday in the western region of Bryansk, on the border with Ukraine, after the detonation of an “explosive device” on the track, the local governor said.
On the same day, authorities reported that power lines had burned out in northern Russia – a situation the FSB’s security service regarded as an “act of sabotage”.
The apparent attacks came a day after a Ukrainian attack killed four people in a Russian village in the Bryansk region as Kiev prepared for a widely anticipated counter-offensive.
“An unidentified explosive device exploded, derailing a freight train locomotive”Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz told Telegram. “There were no casualties,” he added.
The governor stated that emergency services were working on the scene and that rail traffic in the area had been halted.
There have been reports of acts of sabotage on railways in Russia and its ally Belarus during the war in Ukraine, which has been raging for more than a year. However, it is the first time that Russian authorities have confirmed an attack of this magnitude.
Footage released on social media shows the front of the train and several freight cars engulfed in flames and lying on the grass next to the rails.
Russian Railways said the incident occurred at 10:17 a.m. local time (12:16 a.m. Lisbon) on Monday between the town of Unecha and the village of Rassukha, in the region’s southwest — about 100 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
The train derailed “after the intervention of unauthorized persons during rail transport work”.
The state operator said firefighters were working at the site and there could be delays for passenger trains from the area to Moscow.
On Monday, the governor of the northern Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, said local power lines had been hit by an “explosive”.
The official said the lines were damaged near the village of Susanino, 60 kilometers south of Russia’s second city, St. Petersburg. Drozdenko later said that the FSB’s security service had opened a criminal case for “sabotage”.
Source: DN
