Russian authorities are probing the derailment of a freight train some 200 km southeast of Moscow. Officials said the incident, which took place in the early hours of Saturday in Ryazan Region, was caused by “unauthorized interference.”
The local branch of the Investigative Committee for transportation has announced a preliminary investigation, with staff already working at the scene. It said 15 train carriages veered off the tracks, and that the driver and his assistant were injured.
Later, in a separate statement, Moscow Railways attributed the incident to “unauthorized interference by third parties in the activities of rail transport.” It said that 19 cars were involved in the derailment, but that the train’s driver was not injured, and his assistant did not require any medical treatment.
The agency also said three cars had been put back on the tracks, with more than 250 people involved in the repairs, and that rail traffic has not been affected.
According to Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov, the freight cars contained mineral fertilizers. A video shared by Russia’s Investigative Committee shows its employees working near the wreckage, with one of the cars bearing the inscription PhosAgro, the name of a leading Russian chemical company.
The Mash Telegram channel has claimed the track in front of the locomotive had been “blown up,” and that investigators were searching the area for explosives. According to the outlet, local police are conducting raids in search of possible culprits.
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Since the start of the conflict with Russia, Ukraine has repeatedly attempted to target Russian infrastructure with drone and missile strikes, while organizing sabotage activities inside the country. In recent months, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has on several occasions detained alleged Ukrainian agents attempting to stage attacks on transport infrastructure.
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