An explosion in a Russian region bordering Ukraine derailed a freight train on Monday (May 1), the local governor said in a social media post, adding there were no casualties.
Pictures shared on social media showed several tank carriages laying on their side and dark grey smoke billowing into the air at the site of the derailment in the Bryansk region.
Russian Railways, the country’s rail operator, said the incident occurred at 10.17 Moscow time (3.17pm, Singapore time). It said the locomotive and seven freight wagons were derailed and the locomotive caught fire.
“An unidentified explosive device went off at the 136-kilometre mark on the Bryansk-Unecha railway line, derailing a freight train,” Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said in a post on his Telegram channel.
Russian authorities say the region – which borders both Ukraine and Belarus – has seen multiple attacks by pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups in the 14 months since Russia invaded. On Saturday, the governor said four civilians died after Kyiv shelled a village just across the border.
The site of the incident, as indicated by the governor, is around 60km north of Russia’s border with Ukraine.
He did not say who was responsible for the attack.
Separately, the governor of Russia’s Leningrad region near St Petersburg said a power line had been blown up overnight and an explosive device found near a second line.
Governor Alexander Drozdenko posted photos of destroyed power lines and metal supports on his Telegram page on Monday morning. He said Russia’s FSB federal security service was working on the site, and did not say who he believed was responsible for the incident.
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