**Explosions Cause Bridge Collapses and Train Derailments in Western Russia, Resulting in Multiple Casualties**

Western Russia faced a series of destructive incidents as two bridges collapsed and two trains derailed overnight, leading to significant casualties. Officials reported the occurrences on Sunday but provided no specifics regarding the cause of the blasts. These tragic events claimed seven lives and left dozens injured.

One of the bridges, located in the Bryansk region near the Ukrainian border, collapsed onto a passenger train on Saturday. This incident resulted in the deaths of seven people, including the train's driver, and left many others injured, according to state-run Russian Railways. Hours following this disaster, a second train derailed due to the collapse of another bridge in the adjacent Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine. The freight train was knocked off its track, landing on the road beneath, and triggered a fire. Fortunately, no casualties were reported from this second derailment, as confirmed by acting Governor Alexander Khinshtein.

Russia's primary investigative body, the Investigative Committee, initially released a statement identifying explosions as the cause of the bridge collapses. However, this mention of “explosions” was later removed without an explanation. The Committee stated that it is treating the incidents as potential acts of terrorism.

Rescue operations were underway to clear the wreckage at both sites, and several of the injured were transported to Moscow for medical treatment. Government-released photos from Bryansk showed the harrowing aftermath, with train carriages torn apart amid the debris of the fallen bridge. Additional footage on social media depicted scenes from vehicles that narrowly escaped driving onto the collapsing bridge.

Inspectors also discovered damage to railway tracks elsewhere in the Bryansk region on Sunday. It was not specified if this damage was related to the collapsed bridges. Although some officials in the past have pointed fingers at pro-Ukrainian elements for attacks on Russia’s railway infrastructure, conclusive verification of such claims remains elusive.

In a related development, Ukraine’s military intelligence, known as GUR, announced that a Russian military freight train transporting food and fuel had been destroyed en route to Crimea. However, the GUR did not claim responsibility nor directly connect this event to the bridge collapses. The statement emphasized the destruction of Moscow’s crucial supply route to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region and Crimea, territories of acute strategic importance since Russia's broader invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022 and its annexation of Crimea in 2014.