Seven killed by bridge blasts in Russian border regions
A highway bridge over a railway in the Bryansk region was blown up at 10.50pm on Saturday night just as a passenger train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath, Russian investigators said.
Four hours later, a railway bridge over a highway was blown up in the neighbouring Kursk region showering the road with parts of a freight train, the investigators said.
Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, linked the incidents and said explicitly that both bridges were blown up.
In the Bryansk region, social media pictures and videos showed passengers trying to climb out of smashed carriages in the dark. Part of the passenger train was shown crushed under a collapsed road bridge and wrecked carriages lay 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, told 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 was 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 to 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.
Ukraine's HUR military intelligence agency said on Sunday that an explosion had derailed a Russian military train hauling cargo and fuel trucks near the settlement of Yakymivka, in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region.
The agency did not claim responsibility or attribute the explosion to anyone, though Ukraine has in the past claimed a series of attacks deep into Russia.
Russian politicians lined up to blame Ukraine, saying it was clearly sabotage aimed at derailing the peace talks which the United States has demanded.
"This is definitely the work of the Ukrainian special services," the chairman of the defence committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Andrei Kartapolov, told the SHOT Telegram channel.
"All this is aimed at toughening the position of the Russian Federation and stoking aggression before the negotiations. And also to intimidate people. But they won't succeed."
President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the bridge blasts by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Emergency Ministry throughout the night, the Kremlin said. Putin also spoke to the governor of Bryansk, Alexander Bogomaz.
US President Donald Trump has demanded the sides make peace and he has threatened to walk away if they do not - potentially pushing responsibility for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers.
But as politicians talk of peace negotiations, the war is heating up, with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has not committed to attending the talks in Turkey, saying it first needed to see Russia's proposals, while a leading US senator warned Moscow it would be "hit hard" by new US sanctions.
At least seven people have been 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 10.50pm on Saturday night just as a passenger train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath, Russian investigators said.
Four hours later, a railway bridge over a highway was blown up in the neighbouring Kursk region showering the road with parts of a freight train, the investigators said.
Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, linked the incidents and said explicitly that both bridges were blown up.
In the Bryansk region, social media pictures and videos showed passengers trying to climb out of smashed carriages in the dark. Part of the passenger train was shown crushed under a collapsed road bridge and wrecked carriages lay 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, told 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 was 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 to 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.
Ukraine's HUR military intelligence agency said on Sunday that an explosion had derailed a Russian military train hauling cargo and fuel trucks near the settlement of Yakymivka, in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region.
The agency did not claim responsibility or attribute the explosion to anyone, though Ukraine has in the past claimed a series of attacks deep into Russia.
Russian politicians lined up to blame Ukraine, saying it was clearly sabotage aimed at derailing the peace talks which the United States has demanded.
"This is definitely the work of the Ukrainian special services," the chairman of the defence committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Andrei Kartapolov, told the SHOT Telegram channel.
"All this is aimed at toughening the position of the Russian Federation and stoking aggression before the negotiations. And also to intimidate people. But they won't succeed."
President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the bridge blasts by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Emergency Ministry throughout the night, the Kremlin said. Putin also spoke to the governor of Bryansk, Alexander Bogomaz.
US President Donald Trump has demanded the sides make peace and he has threatened to walk away if they do not - potentially pushing responsibility for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers.
But as politicians talk of peace negotiations, the war is heating up, with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has not committed to attending the talks in Turkey, saying it first needed to see Russia's proposals, while a leading US senator warned Moscow it would be "hit hard" by new US sanctions.
At least seven people have been 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 10.50pm on Saturday night just as a passenger train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath, Russian investigators said.
Four hours later, a railway bridge over a highway was blown up in the neighbouring Kursk region showering the road with parts of a freight train, the investigators said.
Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, linked the incidents and said explicitly that both bridges were blown up.
In the Bryansk region, social media pictures and videos showed passengers trying to climb out of smashed carriages in the dark. Part of the passenger train was shown crushed under a collapsed road bridge and wrecked carriages lay 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, told 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 was 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 to 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.
Ukraine's HUR military intelligence agency said on Sunday that an explosion had derailed a Russian military train hauling cargo and fuel trucks near the settlement of Yakymivka, in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region.
The agency did not claim responsibility or attribute the explosion to anyone, though Ukraine has in the past claimed a series of attacks deep into Russia.
Russian politicians lined up to blame Ukraine, saying it was clearly sabotage aimed at derailing the peace talks which the United States has demanded.
"This is definitely the work of the Ukrainian special services," the chairman of the defence committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Andrei Kartapolov, told the SHOT Telegram channel.
"All this is aimed at toughening the position of the Russian Federation and stoking aggression before the negotiations. And also to intimidate people. But they won't succeed."
President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the bridge blasts by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Emergency Ministry throughout the night, the Kremlin said. Putin also spoke to the governor of Bryansk, Alexander Bogomaz.
US President Donald Trump has demanded the sides make peace and he has threatened to walk away if they do not - potentially pushing responsibility for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers.
But as politicians talk of peace negotiations, the war is heating up, with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has not committed to attending the talks in Turkey, saying it first needed to see Russia's proposals, while a leading US senator warned Moscow it would be "hit hard" by new US sanctions.
At least seven people have been 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 10.50pm on Saturday night just as a passenger train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath, Russian investigators said.
Four hours later, a railway bridge over a highway was blown up in the neighbouring Kursk region showering the road with parts of a freight train, the investigators said.
Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, linked the incidents and said explicitly that both bridges were blown up.
In the Bryansk region, social media pictures and videos showed passengers trying to climb out of smashed carriages in the dark. Part of the passenger train was shown crushed under a collapsed road bridge and wrecked carriages lay 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, told 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 was 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 to 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.
Ukraine's HUR military intelligence agency said on Sunday that an explosion had derailed a Russian military train hauling cargo and fuel trucks near the settlement of Yakymivka, in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region.
The agency did not claim responsibility or attribute the explosion to anyone, though Ukraine has in the past claimed a series of attacks deep into Russia.
Russian politicians lined up to blame Ukraine, saying it was clearly sabotage aimed at derailing the peace talks which the United States has demanded.
"This is definitely the work of the Ukrainian special services," the chairman of the defence committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Andrei Kartapolov, told the SHOT Telegram channel.
"All this is aimed at toughening the position of the Russian Federation and stoking aggression before the negotiations. And also to intimidate people. But they won't succeed."
President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the bridge blasts by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Emergency Ministry throughout the night, the Kremlin said. Putin also spoke to the governor of Bryansk, Alexander Bogomaz.
US President Donald Trump has demanded the sides make peace and he has threatened to walk away if they do not - potentially pushing responsibility for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers.
But as politicians talk of peace negotiations, the war is heating up, with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has not committed to attending the talks in Turkey, saying it first needed to see Russia's proposals, while a leading US senator warned Moscow it would be "hit hard" by new US sanctions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
29 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Miranda Devine: Bumbling Obama aides actually admit Russiagate was a smear campaign against Trump
'That's our story, and we're sticking to it.' It's hard to believe that the Russiagate plotters are so stupid, but the declassified documents tumbling out of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's files show that, while they had a lot of power and managed to hide their nefarious activities for almost a decade, President Barack Obama's henchmen were none too bright. The latest tranche of declassified emails has Obama's DNI, James Clapper, telling then-National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers essentially to shut up and put his name to the intelligence community assessment (ICA) that Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan were cooking up, at Obama's direction, to concoct a narrative that Russia had tilted the 2016 election to help Trump win. 'Understand your concern,' Clapper wrote to Rogers on Dec. 22, 2016, in the waning days of the Obama administration. 'It is essential that we (CIA/NSA/FBI/ODNI) be on the same page and are all supportive of the report — in the highest tradition of 'that's OUR story, and we're sticking to it.' ' CompromisedRogers had kicked off the conversation by laying out his concerns that normal tradecraft was being compromised and that his team had not had 'sufficient access to the underlying intelligence and sufficient time to review that intelligence.' 'I'm concerned that, given the expedited nature of this activity, my folks aren't fully comfortable saying that they have had enough time to review all of the intelligence to be absolutely confident in their assessments,' Rogers wrote. 'I know that you agree that this is something we need to be 100% comfortable with before we present it to the President — we have one chance to get this right, and it is critical that we do so. 'In addition, if NSA is intended to be a co-author of this product, I personally expect to see even the most sensitive evidence related to the conclusion.' But Clapper was unyielding. 'More time is not negotiable,' he replied, copying Brennan and then-FBI Director James Comey on the email. 'We may have to compromise on our 'normal' modalities, since we must do this on such a compressed schedule.' 'This is one project that has to be a team sport.' Team sport. What an unprofessional, idiotic thing to say, let alone write down for posterity. As Gabbard said when she released the emails Wednesday: 'Clapper's own words confirm that complying with the order to manufacture intelligence was a 'team sport.' ' There was no reason for the ICA to be completed under such a compressed schedule — less than a month from the Oval Office meeting on Dec. 9, 2016, when Obama ordered Clapper, Brennan, Comey and others to prepare a new intelligence assessment to replace all the inconvenient others before the election that had found that Russia wanted to sow discord but was not partial to one candidate over the other. In fact, previous declassified material released by Gabbard shows that Russian spies possessed damaging material on Hillary Clinton's 'psycho-emotional' and physical ailments that they were withholding until after the election because they were so certain she would win. But Obama wanted the cooked ICA to be released before Trump's transition on Jan. 20, 2017. He wanted to do maximum damage to Trump, whose election was a repudiation of Obama's presidency, and of course to cover up Clinton's scandals — including her BleachBitted private server, missing emails and alleged pay-for-play at the Clinton Foundation. Pre-inaugural smearAnd thus, the ICA was released on Jan. 6, 2017, using the discredited and fictional Steele dossier to underpin its findings, with Brennan running roughshod over the objections of the CIA's top Russia experts by insisting it be included, not just in an appendix but in the main body. The ICA 'findings' were leaked to the media before the intelligence analysts had even started work. On the very day Obama ordered the ICA, Dec. 9, 2016, the Washington Post ran an anonymously sourced story that claimed 'the CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency.' How prescient of it. The framing of Trump as a Russian asset sabotaged his first presidency, in what Gabbard has called a 'years-long coup.' It undermined his authority and allowed his detractors to paint him as an illegitimate president installed by his 'handler' Vladimir Putin. There is no knowing exactly how the lies affected the relationship between the US and Russia, and how they factored into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but they linger in the historic backdrop of Trump's meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, to try to end that awful war. Anti-lawfare lawyer Mike Davis, founder and president of the Article III Project, says Russiagate is 'the biggest scandal in American history — and there will be indictments … 'Obama, Biden, Hillary, Brennan, Clapper, and so many others, they made up the Russian collusion hoax to protect Hillary Clinton and to hurt then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. When they failed and Trump won, they used it to try to destroy President Trump's presidency. And when he declassified Crossfire Hurricane [the FBI counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign's nonexistent collusion with Russia], they tried to destroy him. They tried to bankrupt him, throw him in prison for life, take him off the ballot, and get him killed.' Davis says recently declassified evidence that suggests that the classified material leaked to harm Trump could lead to espionage charges for the leakers that, unlike most other federal crimes, has a 10-year statute of limitations under the Espionage Act. 'Criminal conspiracy'Other potential charges for the coup plotters could include being engaged in a criminal conspiracy and covering it up, which is essentially a continuation of the conspiracy, meaning there is no statute-of-limitations obstacle for prosecutors. Coup plotters might also face charges of 'conspiracy against rights,' says Davis, which is 'when you politicize and weaponize intelligence agencies and law enforcement to go after your political enemies for non-crimes, like Obama and Biden and Hillary and so many others did to Trump. That is the classic definition of a conspiracy against rights.' Obama, whom Trump calls 'the ringleader' of Russiagate, may face legal jeopardy, says Davis, despite being protected by presidential immunity for official acts. 'You definitely do not have presidential immunity for your acts after you leave the White House as the former president of the United States, and when you continue to cover up your conspiracy, you are engaged in criminal conduct for which you do not enjoy presidential immunity.' Davis advises anyone involved in Russiagate to 'lawyer up. Justice is definitely coming, and nobody's above the law.' It is just amazing that such bumbling blockheads got away with it for so long. Originally published as Miranda Devine: Bumbling Obama aides actually admit Russiagate was a smear campaign against Trump
Sky News AU
32 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Alaska summit pits Trump's deal-making against Putin's imperial ambitions
Sky News US Analyst Michael Ware discusses the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Alaskan city of Anchorage. 'President Trump and his administration have, in the last 72 hours, dampened down expectations for the outcome of his historic meeting,' Mr Ware said. 'Here we have the wild card real estate deal maker coming against the immovable force that is Putin, who is a hard-nosed imperialist. 'This strikes to the core of Putin's being, it strikes to his view of the heart of mother Russia and its lost empire and of Putin's personal place in history.'
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Putin heaps praise on ‘sincere' Donald Trump, hints Russia and US could strike nuclear arms deal
Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the Trump administration's 'energetic' and 'sincere' efforts to end the war in Ukraine — and suggested the US and Russia could reach a deal on nuclear arms control at their summit in Alaska on Friday. Putin appeared optimistic that forthcoming meetings in Anchorage between Moscow and Washington could 'create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, as well as in Europe, and in the world as a whole,' he told senior officials during a briefing on Thursday. 'The current American administration… is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,' Putin said, according to CNN. A possible peace deal is possible in the 'next stages' of negotiations if the US and Russia can 'reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons,' the 72-year-old said, referring to nuclear arms. The US and Russia signed a pact in 2011, known as New START, capping strategic nuclear weapons deployments. The deal expires on February 5, 2026. Here are the latest details on Trump and Putin's meeting in AlaskaThe meeting will take place in Anchorage, Alaska at Joint Base said his sitdown with Putin in Alaska will be 'setting the table' for a possible future meeting about the war in Ukraine with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested the US and Russia could reach a deal on nuclear arms Trump estimated Thursday there is a 25% chance that his Alaska summit will met with European world leaders ahead of the meeting between Trump and Putin. New START has been tested by Russia's war in Ukraine and has been on life support since Putin announced Russia would no longer comply with its requirements in February. The treaty limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The pact also called for mutual site inspections, which were paused during COVID-19 in 2020 and have not resumed. The Kremlin also indicated they want to bring other topics to the table during Friday's meeting — including economic cooperation — alongside conversations about the war on Ukraine. New START has been tested by Russia's war in Ukraine and has been on life support since Putin announced Russia would no longer comply with its requirements in February. The treaty limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The pact also called for mutual site inspections, which were paused during COVID-19 in 2020 and have not resumed. The Kremlin also indicated they want to bring other topics to the table during Friday's meeting — including economic cooperation — alongside conversations about the war on Ukraine. 'Naturally, broader tasks on ensuring peace and security as well as the most pertinent and pressing international and regional issues will be touched upon,' Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said Thursday, per Russian state media site TASS. The Trump-Putin meeting will begin with a one-on-one conversation, with the leaders only flanked by interpreters, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Ushakov said. The leaders will talk over breakfast and then plan to have a joint press conference. However, Putin — a former KGB agent known as a master manipulator — has repeatedly shown he cannot be trusted. Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the Russian dictator, accusing him of 'tapping' him along and has railed against his 'b*******.' 'We get a lot of b****** thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,' Trump said last month. 'He's very nice all of the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.' Trump's main goal for Friday's meetings with the Russian leader is to reach a cease-fire deal, but he is 'not very optimistic' the dictator will budge, a US source familiar with the discussion told The Post. The president also mainly plans to listen to Putin's demands to get a clearer picture of how to end the war, the White House has indicated. Putin has reportedly been pushing for Ukraine to give up significant territory Russia has claimed — and not been able to take by force — in order for any lasting peace deal to be reached. Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders on a call Wednesday that a cease-fire was his top priority and said he would not discuss Ukraine territorial concessions, sources said. If no cease-fire agreement is reached, Trump vowed there would be 'severe consequences' for the Kremlin. Zelensky was sidelined for Friday's meeting because it was proposed by Putin himself, the White House said. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had originally proposed a trilateral meeting — with Trump, Putin and Zelensky — at the president's request before Putin countered with the one-on-one idea, according to White House sources. As Zelensky will not be present, formal discussions to end the Ukraine war will not take place. Both Russia and the US have signaled that future meetings will be needed to reach a resolution. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov cautioned against trying to predict the outcome of the Friday talks, but said Thursday that 'given that there will be a joint news conference, the president [Putin] will outline the range of agreements and understandings that can be achieved.' With Post Wires Originally published as Putin heaps praise on 'sincere' Donald Trump, hints Russia and US could strike nuclear arms deal
