Seven people have been killed and dozens more injured after two bridges collapsed just hours apart in different Russian regions bordering Ukraine.
In the most devastating incident, a bridge came crashing down onto railway tracks in the Bryansk region, directly in the path of a moving passenger train.
The collision sent carriages careening off the rails, leaving a trail of mangle metal and shattered concrete.
Just hours later a second bridge collapsed in the Kursk region.
The train’s driver and six others lost their lives in the Bryansk tragedy, and at least 69 more people were rushed to hospital with injuries, some reportedly critical.
Local authorities blamed ‘illegal interference’.
The horror unfolded as the train, en route from Moscow to Klimov, was making its way through the troubled region.
Passengers were evacuated and guided to a meeting point at a nearby station, Moscow Railway said, adding: ‘They will be able to continue their journey on a specially formed reserve train’ travelling from Bryansk to Moscow.
Dramatic footage shared online shows the twisted wreckage, with carriages torn open and panicked survivors clambering through debris.
One video, filmed from inside a passing car, captures the chilling moment a vehicle narrowly avoids the collapsing structure, just seconds from disaster.
Alexander Bogomaz, the acting governor of Bryansk, has claimed the bridge was ‘blown up’, suggesting a targeted attack.
Officials have not yet confirmed who was behind the blast, but Andrei Klishas, a senior figure in Russia’s Federation Council, wasted no time in accusing Kyiv.
He claimed the incident proved Ukraine had ‘long lost the attributes of a state and has turned into a terrorist enclave’.
Ukraine has yet to comment.
In a separate incident, another bridge buckled under the weight of a freight train in the Zheleznogorsk district, in Russia’s neighbouring Kursk region.
One train driver was injured, but authorities say the full extent of the damage is still being assessed.
Acting governor Alexander Khinshtein said the train caught fire and a driver suffered injuries to his legs.
Khinshtein wrote on Telegram: ‘The cause of the bridge collapse will be established. All emergency services are working on the scene. I am keeping the situation under control.’
It is unclear whether the two collapses in the neighbouring regions are related but Moscow’s interregional transport prosecutor’s office said an investigation had been launched.
Both Bryansk and Kursk border Ukraine and have seen repeated attacks since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion over three years ago.
Cross-border shelling, drone strikes, and covert operations have turned these regions into dangerous flashpoints in the ongoing war.
Emergency crews have remained at the scene in Bryansk, working against the clock to extract survivors from the wreckage.
It comes as the strategic defence review is a ‘message to Moscow’, Defence Secretary John Healey has said.
‘This is a message to Moscow as well. This is Britain standing behind, making our armed forces stronger but making our industrial base stronger, and this is part of our readiness to fight, if required,’ he told the BBC’s Sunday Morning With Laura Kuenssberg programme.
He said Russia is ‘attacking the UK daily’ in cyberspace.
Asked if he expected a form of real-world attack by Russia on the UK in the coming years, he said: ‘We have to be prepared. Nato has to be prepared. We see Putin in Ukraine trying to redraw international boundaries by force… it’s part of the growing Russian aggression.’
He added that is why Nato and the UK are ‘stepping up our ability to deter as well as to defend in the future’.
‘The world is more uncertain. The tensions are greater but we prepare for war in order to secure the peace. If you’re strong enough to defeat an enemy you deter them from attacking in the first place,’ Mr Healey said.