Trains have derailed in Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk Regions

Bridge collapses have derailed trains in two Russian regions, leaving at least seven people dead and multiple others wounded.

On Saturday evening, a bridge fell in front of a moving train in Bryansk Region, killing seven people and injuring 71 others. Several hours later, early on Sunday, a railway bridge collapsed under a moving freight train in Kursk Region, leaving the driver and two of his assistants wounded.

The Russian Investigative Committee said that both incidents were deliberate acts of sabotage.

 

01 June 2025

11:28 GMT

The train derailments in Bryansk and Kursk Regions are an attempt to “bring terror” to the Russian population, former Pentagon official Michael Maloof told RT.

"Ukraine recognizes that it is not winning the war, in fact, it has flat out lost it already, but they continue to want to resist. So, I would imagine that what we are probably going to see is increasing insurgency efforts,” he cautioned.

 

 

 

10:33 GMT

Independent Dutch journalist Sonja van den Ende has told RT that she believes Ukraine to be the likely culprit behind the train derailments in Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk Regions.

“It is an act of terrorism and Ukraine is lowering itself to... terrorism like we see with Al Qaeda or, you know, in the Middle East,” she said, adding that targeting civilians “has nothing to do with war.”

Van den Ende also noted that the bridge collapses occurred in the run up to Monday’s meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul. Before the last round of talks in May, Kiev also tried to raise tensions by sending swarms of drones into Russian territory, she recalled.

 

 

 

10:02 GMT

Moscow Railway has said that its workers have discovered damage to train tracks in another part of Bryansk Region.

There were no injuries as the affected part of the railway, between the settlements of Unecha and Zhecha, which is not being used for traffic, according to the company.

09:19 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin had been receiving reports from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Emergencies Ministry about the train derailments in Bryansk Region and Kursk Region “throughout the whole night,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

07:21 GMT

Russian Federation Council member Andrey Klishas has blamed Kiev for the derailment, writing on Telegram that the incident confirmed that “Ukraine is being controlled by a terrorist group.”

“Ukraine has long lost the attributes of a state, turning into a terrorist enclave without borders, without legitimate authorities and laws,” he said.

The senator urged the creation of a vast buffer zone inside Ukrainian territory to make sure that “terrorists” are unable to reach Russia in the future.

06:54 GMT

A source in Russia’s law enforcement agencies has told RT that, according to preliminary data, a section of the bridge collapsed on the tracks in front of the train, with the driver having no time to avoid the crash. The driver and his assistant likely died immediately as a result of the collision, the source said.

According to RT’s interlocutor, a probe is now being carried out to determine if the incident was a terrorist attack.

04:54 GMT

One of the passengers on the derailed Bryansk train told Izvestia that a truck had fallen onto the locomotive.

“The first car completely derailed, the second overturned, and the third was also involved in the collision… Passengers in cars one through ten sustained similar injuries,” she said.

04:43 GMT

A freight train also derailed in Russia’s Kursk region on Sunday after a bridge collapsed underneath it, Acting Governor Aleksandr Khinshteyn said. One of the train’s drivers was hospitalized with leg injuries. The cause of the incident is under investigation, according to the governor.

 

 

02:47 GMT

The Bryansk governor has raised the number of injured to 69, with 44 requiring hospitalization.

01:09 GMT

In his latest update, Bryansk Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz revised the number of injured to 35, including three children. He said one child will be airlifted to Moscow.

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