A Russian governor said explosions rocked his region over two consecutive days, with the head of Bryansk Oblast, Alexander Bogomaz, claiming four civilians were killed by Ukrainian shelling on Sunday. The next day, a train was derailed by an explosion.
Bogomaz, who governs a Russian province bordering Ukraine, took to Telegram on Sunday to share details about a recent Ukrainian attack on the village of Suzemka, sharing footage purporting to show the aftermath of a rocket-artillery barrage. The small town is located just 5 miles west of the Ukrainian border.
“After today’s shelling [by] the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the village of Suzemka, work continues on the removal of the rubble of the destroyed house,“ he wrote in another post, adding that the total death toll had risen to four after “two more civilians [were] found and removed from the rubble.“ Two others were also reportedly injured.
Bogomaz also claimed some of the rockets were intercepted by Russian air defenses, but noted one residential building was “partially destroyed.“ Initially, he said there were no casualties in the attack, but later reported the four deaths.
On Monday, Bogomaz said his region again came under fire after an “unidentified explosive device“ derailed a freight train. “As a result of the incident, two locomotives and seven wagons derailed. The rest of the cars were driven to a safe distance,“ the governor continued, adding “There were no casualties.”
Kiev has not commented on the attacks, in line with its usual policy throughout the conflict with Russia. Over the weekend, a drone strike on a major oil storage facility in Crimea triggered a massive blaze. Ukrainian officials stopped short of taking credit for the attack, instead saying the explosions were “god’s punishment” for Moscow’s own strikes on civilians – namely a recent missile attack on the town of Uman which reportedly killed 23 Ukrainians.
While Kiev does not acknowledge strikes on Russian soil, last year the Times of London spoke with members of the Ukrainian special operations forces who claimed to have taken part in attacks inside the country. Those operations were said to have been carried out in Belgorod Oblast, another border area located near Bryansk, and were conducted by a Ukrainian battalion that fought alongside Western troops in Afghanistan.
