Is Ukraine behind 2 rail bridge collapses in Russia? 7 killed in Bryansk tragedy, freight train narrowly escapes in Kursk | VIDEOS
An emergency employee works at a damaged bridge after the crash of a freight train in Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine (Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office/AP)
Seven people were killed and 69 others injured after a railway bridge collapsed in Bryansk while a freight train narrowly escapes accident after another bridge falls in southern Kursk in less than 24 hours.
One of the locomotive drivers in the freight train suffered injuries after it caught fire. A part of the train fell onto the road below the bridge in Zheleznogorsk district of Kursk, around 90 km from the Ukrainian border.
Russian Railways said the "collapse of a span structure of the road bridge as a result of an illegal interference in the operation of transport". "Last night... in the Zheleznogorsk district, a bridge collapsed while a freight locomotive was passing. Part of the train fell onto the road below the bridge," Russian official Alexander Khinshtein said on Telegram.
Is Ukraine behind railway bridge collapses?
Both Bryansk and Kursk regions border Ukraine and there has been covert raids from Kyiv in the two regions in the past. Russia in April retook Kursk from Ukraine. But Moscow has not openly blamed Kyiv for the latest bridge collapses. Ukraine has also not commented on the tragic incidents.
The first bridge collapse in Vygonichskyi in Bryansk saw the passenger cars from the train lying with the debris of the collapsed bridge. The train coming from Klimovo town was headed to Moscow. Vygonichskyi is around 100 km from Ukrainian international boundary. Videos also showed passengers helping victims stuck in the mangled coaches.
A probe has been launched into the two incidents, according to Moscow's inter-regional transport prosecutor's office.
The conflict between Kyiv and Moscow recently saw the Russian forces capturing villages in Ukraine's Sumy region. Sumy was used as a launchpad for Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk in 2024.
Russia, which currently controls 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory, has proposed negotiations in Istanbul on Monday. However, Ukraine has not revealed whether it will attend the meeting.
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