Seven dead as bridge collapses in suspected sabotage operation in Russia’s Bryansk region • Novaya Gazeta Europe • RIMA

Seven dead as bridge collapses in suspected sabotage operation in Russia’s Bryansk region

Rescuers work at the site of a bridge that collapsed on a passenger train in Russia’s western Bryansk region, Russia, 1 June 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/RUSSIAN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS MINISTRY

Seven people were killed and dozens more injured as a bridge collapsed in a suspected sabotage operation in western Russia late on Saturday, Bryansk region Governor Alexander Bogomaz has reported.

The road bridge collapsed at 10:44pm local time as a passenger train carrying 388 passengers was passing underneath it. The train crashed into the wreckage of the bridge, causing the locomotive and four carriages to derail. Bogomaz said seven people were killed and 66 passengers were injured, 47 of whom were hospitalised.

The Moscow Railway press service reported that the collapse was due to “illegal interference”, but later removed the comment from its statement, though Bogomaz subsequently confirmed that the cause of the incident was an explosion.

A second explosion in the Bryansk region occurred at 10:52am local time on Sunday, though nobody was injured, according to Telegram channel Baza, which is close to the security forces. The Moscow Railway reported “damage to the tracks” in the area.

A bridge also collapsed overnight onto a highway in the Kursk region of southwestern Russia as a freight locomotive was passing over it. “Part of the train crashed down onto the highway under the bridge. The diesel locomotive caught fire”, acting Governor Alexander Khinshtein said.

Khinshtein said the cause of the bridge’s collapse was being looked into, though Baza said the bridge may have been blown up.

Russia’s Investigative Committee is looking into the incidents as acts of terror, state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence (GUR) reported that a Russian military train had been blown up near the village of Yakymivka, in the Zaporizhzhia region, while on its way to annexed Crimea.

“As a result of an explosion on the track, a freight train carrying fuel derailed,” the GUR statement said. It said the explosion had disrupted a “key logistics artery” for the Russian military in the occupied area of the Zaporizhzhia region.