At least 7 dead as bridges collapse in 2 Russian regions bordering Ukraine

Two bridges collapsed in different Russian regions bordering Ukraine, derailing trains and killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, Russian authorities said early on Sunday, while a Russian politician called Kyiv a “terrorist enclave.”Reuters could not independently confirm whether the incidents in the neighboring regions were related.The areas in Russia’s south have been subject to frequent attacks by Ukraine during the war that Russia started with its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.Seven people were killed and 69 injured when a highway bridge collapsed onto railway tracks, derailing an approaching train in the Bryansk region late on Saturday, Russian emergency ministry and regional officials said.Russia’s Railways initially posted on the Telegram messaging app that the Bryansk bridge collapse was the result of an “illegal interference in the operation of transport,” but the post was later removed.Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram that 47 people were hospitalized.Three children were among those injured with one in serious condition, he said.The collapse in the Kursk region occurred early on Sunday while a freight train was crossing the bridge, Alexander Khinshtein, acting governor of the region, and Russian Railways said on Telegram.“Part of the train fell onto a road underneath the bridge,” Khinshtein said.He added that the locomotive caught fire, which was quickly extinguished.One of the drivers sustained leg injuries, and he and the team operating the train were taken to a local hospital, Khinshtein added.He posted a photo of derailed carriages on a damaged bridge over a road.Andrei Klishas, a senior member of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, said on the Telegram messaging app that the incident in Bryansk shows that “Ukraine has long lost the attributes of a state and has turned into a terrorist enclave.”Russia’s Baza Telegram channel, which often publishes informatio...