Russia opens terrorism investigation after bomb explodes on railway line

Russian investigators have opened a terrorism investigation after a major freight train derailed due to what they said was a homemade bomb on the railway line in the Ryazan region, the investigative committee said.

"According to the investigation, at 07:12 on Nov 11, 2023, an improvised explosive device exploded," the committee said. "As a result, 19 wagons of the freight train were derailed."

Nineteen carriages traveling from Rybnoye town were thrown from the tracks and 15 were damaged, investigators wrote in a statement on social media. They said they would be opening a criminal investigation on terrorism charges.

Both the train driver and assistant train driver received medical attention at the scene.

Russian officials have previously blamed pro-Ukrainian saboteurs for several attacks on the country's railway system since Moscow launched the special military operation in Ukraine in February last year. But no group has claimed responsibility for the damage so far.

Kyiv has not commented on Saturday's attacks, but warned Ukrainians to prepare for Russian winter aggression on infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued his warning during his nightly video address a day after Russian forces carried out their first missile attack on the capital Kyiv in some seven weeks.

Ukraine's military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun said Russian attacks on the shattered eastern town of Avdiivka had eased in the past day, but were likely to intensify in the coming days.

And Ukrainian military intelligence said an explosion killed at least three Russian servicemen in the southern town of Melitopol.

On Sunday, Russian authorities said its forces had repelled five Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut.

"We are almost halfway through November and must be prepared for the fact that the enemy may increase the number of drone or missile strikes on our infrastructure," Zelensky said.

Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said Ukraine would have enough energy resources to get through the winter, but added: "The question is, how much future attacks can affect supplies?"

Galushchenko said Ukraine expects Russia to restart mass drone and missile attacks on energy infrastructure once temperatures fall and stay below 0 C.

So far this autumn, Ukraine has enjoyed unseasonably warm weather, but temperatures are expected to drop below 0 C in Kyiv and other places in the coming week.

Separately, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition has agreed in principle to double the country's military aid for Ukraine next year to 8 billion euros ($8.5 billion), Bloomberg quoted a political source in Berlin as saying on Sunday.

If approved by Parliament, where Scholz's parties hold a majority, the boost would lift Germany's defense spending to 2.1 percent of its gross domestic product target, beyond the 2 percent pledged by all North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, the source added.

A spokesperson for Germany's Ministry of Defense said the Bundestag committee has not finished negotiations and declined to comment further.