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An explosion damaged a freight train in Russia’s Bryansk region on Monday, according to the local governor and the Russian railway company, the latest in a string of attacks seen in the region bordering Ukraine.
Photos and videos circulating on social media showed large flames burning and the train leaning over, with at least one carriage on its side.
The governor of the Bryansk region, Aleksandr V. Bogomaz, blamed “an unknown explosive device,” saying in a post on the Telegram messaging app that there were no casualties. They did not say who was responsible, and Ukraine did not claim to be behind the blasts, although Kyiv generally maintains a policy of strategic ambiguity regarding attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian railway company said in a statement that “intrusion by unauthorized persons” damaged the train, causing the locomotive to catch fire. The incident blocked traffic on the railway line, the statement said.
Rybar, an influential pro-war Russian military blog that posted one of the videos, said on the Telegram messaging app that seven train cars carrying oil and wood products were on their side.
The blast came a day after Mr Bogomaz said four people in the area had been killed by a Ukrainian attack from across the border.
Russia has used areas close to Ukraine – including the Bryansk region, along Ukraine’s northern border – to launch attacks, fire rockets, launch airstrikes and other attacks during the 14-month war. The Ukrainian government has expressed growing concern that Moscow is using the Bryansk region to launch drone strikes.
Officials in Kyiv say they reserve the right to strike targets in Russia that they claim are being used to attack Ukrainian towns and cities, but have vowed not to use weapons provided by their Western allies for such attacks, as allies fear Moscow could see it. as an attack. provocation.
In March, Ukrainian special forces said they had destroyed an unmanned observation tower in Russia’s Bryansk region using a drone strike, a rare public acknowledgment of a cross-border attack that underscored Kyiv’s willingness to strike directly at Russian territory.
That came a few days after a brief armed attack on a village in Bryansk by partisans claiming to be fighting for Ukraine, a rare raid in Russia that prompted President Vladimir V. Putin to cancel the trip and hold an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
Marc Santora contribute reports.
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