Kiev, 14 September 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Ukraine's military intelligence agency HUR was behind sabotage attacks that temporarily disrupted railway lines inside Russia, Ukrainian media reported on Sunday.

The agency was said to have orchestrated both an explosion on a railway line in Russia's southern Oryol region and the derailment of a locomotive and a freight train in the north-west near St Petersburg.

An explosion had occurred late Saturday in the Oryol region, close to the Ukrainian border. Railway workers there discovered a suspicious package and called in the Russian National Guard.

The device detonated as bomb-disposal experts tried to defuse it, killing two soldiers instantly and fatally injuring a third. The line was closed for several hours and more than a dozen trains were rerouted before one track reopened on Sunday afternoon.

Later, a freight train derailed in the Leningrad region near St Petersburg. Because its tank wagons were empty, no major damage was reported. A few hours after that, a locomotive derailed in another district of the same region, killing the driver and forcing the closure of large stretches of track.

"By destroying railway infrastructure in these sections, the Russians are experiencing significant logistical problems, which in turn affects their ability to carry out active operations against the Ukrainian armed forces," Ukrainian outlets quoted an HUR spokesman as saying.

Military experts have long noted that Russia's rail network is a critical element of its war effort in Ukraine.

Photo: EPA