Explosions caused 2 bridges in western Russia to collapse, officials
say. 7 people were killed
[June 02, 2025]
By The Associated Press
Explosions caused two bridges to collapse and derailed two trains in
western Russia overnight, officials said Sunday, without saying what had
caused the blasts. In one of the incidents, seven people were killed and
dozens were injured.
The first bridge, in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine,
collapsed on top of a passenger train on Saturday, causing the
casualties. The train's driver was among those killed, state-run Russian
Railways said.
Hours later, officials said a second train derailed when the bridge
beneath it collapsed in the nearby Kursk region, which also borders
Ukraine.
In that collapse, a freight train was thrown off its rails onto the road
below as the explosion collapsed the bridge, local acting Gov. Alexander
Khinshtein said Sunday. The crash sparked a fire, but there were no
casualties, he said.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s top criminal
investigation agency, said in a statement that explosions had caused the
two bridges to collapse, but did not give further details. Several hours
later, it edited the statement, which was posted on social media, to
remove the words “explosions” but did not provide an explanation.
The committee said that it would be investigating the incidents as
potential acts of terrorism.
Rescue workers cleared debris from both sites, while some of those
injured were transported to Moscow for treatment. Photos posted by
government agencies in Bryansk appeared to show train carriages ripped
apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge. Other
footage on social media was apparently taken from inside vehicles on the
road that had managed to avoid driving onto the bridge before it
collapsed.
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In this photo released by Moscow Interregional Transport
Prosecutor's Office telegram channel on Sunday, June 1, 2025,
emergency employees work at a damaged bridge in Russia's Bryansk
region, which borders Ukraine. (Moscow Interregional Transport
Prosecutor's Office telegram channel via AP)
Bryansk regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz announced three days of
mourning for the victims, starting Monday.
Damage to railway tracks was also found Sunday by inspectors working
on the line elsewhere in the Bryansk region, Moscow Railway said in
a statement. It did not say whether the damage was linked to the
collapsed bridges.
In the past, some officials have accused pro-Ukrainian saboteurs of
attacking Russia’s railway infrastructure. The details surrounding
such incidents, however, are limited and cannot be independently
verified.
Ukraine’s military intelligence, known by the Ukrainian abbreviation
GUR, said Sunday that a Russian military freight train carrying food
and fuel had been blown up on its way to Crimea. It did not claim
the attack was carried out by GUR or mention the bridge collapses.
The statement said Moscow's key artery with the Russian-occupied
Zaporizhzhia region and Crimea has been destroyed.
Russia forces have been pushing into the region of Zaporizhzhia in
eastern Ukraine since Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russia took Crimea and annexed it in 2014.
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