Bridge explosions in Russia near Ukraine border escalate tensions ahead of peace talks

At least seven people were killed and injured when two bridges were blown up in separate Russian regions bordering Ukraine ahead of planned peace talks aimed at ending the three-year-old war in Ukraine Russian executives disclosed on Sunday A highway bridge over a railway in the Bryansk region was blown up at pm GMT on Saturday night just as a commuter train carrying passengers to Moscow was passing underneath Russian investigators mentioned Just four hours later a railway bridge over a highway was blown up in the neighboring Kursk region showering the road with parts of a freight train the investigators disclosed GEN KELLOGG REVEALS WHAT CONCERNS HIM ABOUT RUSSIARussia's Investigative Committee which probes serious crimes linked the incidents and explained explicitly that both bridges were blown up In the Bryansk region social media pictures and videos proved passengers trying to climb out of smashed carriages in the dark Part of the traveler train was shown crushed under a collapsed road bridge and wrecked carriages lay beside the lines The bridge was blown up while the Klimovo-Moscow train was passing through with passengers on board Alexander Bogomaz the region's governor communicated Russian television Russia's Investigative Committee which probes serious crimes linked the incidents and explained explicitly that both bridges were blown up There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the incidents which took place just a day before the United States wants Russia and Ukraine to sit down to direct talks in Istanbul to discuss a feasible end to a war which according to Washington has killed and injured at least million people Ukraine's HUR military intelligence agency explained on Sunday that an explosion had derailed a Russian military train hauling cargo and fuel trucks near the settlement of Yakymivka in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region PUTIN MASSES TROOPS ON UKRAINE'S NORTH FRONT AS TRUMP AGAIN AGREES TO MEET RUSSIAN UKRAINIAN LEADERSThe agency did not claim responsibility or attribute the explosion to anyone though Ukraine has in the past claimed a series of attacks deep into Russia Russian politicians lined up to blame Ukraine saying it was clearly sabotage aimed at derailing the peace talks which the United States has demanded This is definitely the work of the Ukrainian special services the chairman of the defense committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament Andrei Kartapolov described the SHOT Telegram channel All this is aimed at toughening the position of the Russian Federation and stoking aggression before the negotiations And also to intimidate people But they won't succeed President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the bridge blasts by the Federal Safety Provision FSB and the Crisis Ministry throughout the night the Kremlin disclosed Putin also spoke to the governor of Bryansk Alexander Bogomaz U S President Donald Trump has demanded the sides make peace and he has threatened to walk away if they do not - potentially pushing responsibility for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers But as politicians talk of peace negotiations the war is heating up with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front in eastern Ukraine Ukraine has not committed to attending the talks in Turkey saying it first needed to see Russia's proposals while a leading U S senator warned Moscow it would be hit hard by new U S sanctions