A freight train has been derailed by an explosion in a Russian region bordering Ukraine.
Announcing the blast on social media, the governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz said the attack occurred on Monday, adding that there were no casualties.
Pictures shared on social media showed several of a train’s tank carriages laying on their side and dark grey smoke billowing into the air at the site of the derailment, in the Bryansk region.
Russian Railways — the country’s rail operator — said the incident occurred at 10:17am local time.
It said the locomotive and seven freight wagons were derailed, with the locomotive catching fire.
“An unidentified explosive device went off at the 136-kilometre mark on the Bryansk-Unecha railway line, derailing a freight train,” Mr Bogomaz said in a post on his Telegram channel.
ABC reports that the site of Monday’s train incident, as indicated by the governor, is around 60 kilometres north of Russia’s border with Ukraine.
Mr Bogomaz did not say who was responsible for the attack. But the Russian government says the region has been attacked multiple times by pro-Ukrainian saboteurs since Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
In a separate incident, a power line was blown up on Sunday night in Russia’s Leningrad region, with the regional governor confirming the attack but also not saying who was involved.
Writing by Tony Okerafor