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Two separate railway bridge collapses in western Russia killed at least seven people and injured dozens overnight Saturday, according to regional officials and state media reports.
State media reported after the accident that incidents are being investigated as "acts of terrorism," quoting Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman from Russia's Investigative Committee.
The deadlier incident occurred in Russia's Bryansk region, where a bridge overpass collapsed onto a passenger train passing underneath, killing seven people and injuring 47 others, including three children, according to regional Governor Aleksander Bogomaz.
All injured passengers were transported to medical facilities.
Speaking on state television, Bogomaz attributed the collapse to an explosion, though this claim could not be independently verified.
A second bridge collapse occurred approximately 77 miles away in the neighboring Kursk region, where a railway overpass gave way as a freight train crossed above a highway.
One locomotive driver sustained leg injuries and was hospitalized, but no fatalities were reported, according to regional Governor Aleksandr Khinshtein and Russian Railways.
Both incidents took place in regions that border Ukraine, raising questions about potential connections to the ongoing conflict.
However, officials have not established any direct link between the collapses and the war.
The Bryansk incident occurred roughly 50 miles (80.4 kilometers) north of the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Russian Railways dispatched recovery trains to the scene, while emergency workers searched through debris from the derailed passenger cars, according to videos and photographs published by Russian state news agencies.
In a related development, Ukraine's military intelligence agency, HUR, claimed responsibility for destroying a Russian military train carrying fuel and cargo through occupied territory in the Zaporizhzhia region as it traveled toward Crimea.
The claim has not been independently verified.
The incidents come as Russian and Ukrainian delegations prepare for a second round of face-to-face peace negotiations scheduled for Monday in Istanbul.
President Vladimir Putin visited the Kursk region last month following Russian military operations that drove Ukrainian forces from most territory they had captured during a cross-border offensive in the area.
Russian transportation authorities confirmed that the destroyed Bryansk overpass carried railway tracks and that recovery operations were underway at both locations.
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