A Russian railway network suspects sabotage after an explosion on a railway bridge near the city of Kinel.
There were no reported casualties but railway "safety islands," used by workers during construction and maintenance operations,were damaged in the blast, the Samara region's government said in a Telegram post, after it received a message "about a loud bang." Railway tracks were not damaged but at least some train traffic was suspended on Saturday.
The Kuibyshev Railway, one of the largest railway networks in Russia, blamed the suspension of trains on "illegal interference" in the operation of railway transport.
It added that only freight trains were affected and not passenger or suburban trains.
Samara's regional government said: "Security personnel are working on the scene. Please remain calm and do not spread false information."
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, via email, for comment.
The Samara region is home to the Polimer JSC plant in Chapayevsk, which produces explosives, chemicals and materials for military and industrial purposes.
In March ammunition produced by the Polimer JSC plant was targeted by Ukraine when it carried out an explosion on power structures for a railway bridge over the Chapayevka River.
Earlier this month, on September 11, sabotage was also suspected when a train derailed in the Novooskolsky district of the Belgorod region.
At the time, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said this was the result of "illegal interference in the operation of railway transport."
The latest incident comes amid increased attention on the Kerch Bridge, also known as the Crimean Bridge, in Russian-occupied Crimea—an important piece of infrastructure that connects the Crimean Peninsula to mainland Russia across the Kerch Strait.
Questions have been circulating online over satellite images that show what appears to be a secondary bridge being raised parallel to the original one and the Ukrainian military are still unable to solve the mystery.
A Ukrainian navy spokesperson, Captain Third Rank Dmytro Pletenchuk, speculated that it could be a "protective structure or some other crossing" but added that "it is a little early to draw conclusions."
"What it is will be clear when they finish it," he said Thursday.
Pletenchuk added that the stormy weather typical of the coming months mean it's unlikely the structure will be completed in the immediate future.
A few weeks ago, Atesh, a pro-Kyiv military partisan group of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, said the Kerch Bridge is "living its final days," referring to damage incurred in previous attacks.
"As a result of the damage sustained, the structural elements of the bridge are degrading, leading to the crumbling of its parts," the group said in a Telegram post on September 8. "The attitude toward its condition is becoming increasingly dismissive, no one pays due attention to it any more."
Ukraine struck the Kerch Bridge in July 2023, which Kyiv branded a "huge success," after it had already hit the important connection in October 2022.
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