At least 7 killed after two bridges blown up in Russian regions bordering Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia — At least seven people were killed and 69 injured when two bridges were blown up in separate Russian regions bordering Ukraine ahead of planned peace talks aimed at ending the three-year-old war in Ukraine, Russian officials say.

A highway bridge over a railway in the Bryansk region was blown up at 10:50 p.m. (1950 GMT) on Saturday night just as a passenger train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath, Russian investigators say.

Just four hours later, a railway bridge over a highway was blown up in the neighboring Kursk region, showering the road with parts of a freight train, the investigators say.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, links the incidents and says explicitly that both bridges were blown up.

In the Bryansk region, social media pictures and videos show passengers trying to climb out of smashed carriages in the dark. Part of the passenger train is shown crushed under a collapsed road bridge, and wrecked carriages lie beside the lines.

“The bridge was blown up while the Klimovo-Moscow train was passing through with 388 passengers on board,” Alexander Bogomaz, the region’s governor, tells Russian television.

The Russian regions bordering Ukraine have been subject to frequent attacks by Ukraine since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Both sides accuse the other of targeting civilians, and both deny such accusations.

There is no immediate comment from Ukraine on the incidents, which took place just a day before the United States wants Russia and Ukraine to sit down for direct talks in Istanbul to discuss a possible end to a war which, according to Washington, has killed and injured at least 1.2 million people.