Kovalenko on the bombing of bridges in the Russian Federation: The Kremlin is preparing the ground for the breakdown of negotiations
Andrii Kovalenko (Photo: @andrii___kovalenko)

Russia is probably planning to disrupt peace talks on the Russian-Ukrainian war by using explosions in the Bryansk and Kursk regions, portraying Ukraine as a "terrorist country." This opinion was expressed by Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

As Kovalenko noted, the bridge incidents that derailed passenger and freight trains in two Russian regions occurred two days before the ceasefire talks in Istanbul.

"It seems that the Kremlin is preparing the ground for the disruption of the negotiations – with an image attack on Ukraine in the international media field. The temptation to portray us as a "terrorist country" is emerging again in order to avoid dialogue and continue the summer offensive, which has already begun in Sumy region, Zaporizhia region, and continues in the East," he wrote.

Kovalenko stressed that this is not the first time Russia has used "explosions under a foreign flag." In particular, in 1999, the so-called "Ryazan Sugar" operation, when explosions occurred in residential buildings in several Russian cities, led to the election of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as president of the Russian Federation.

"They are probably returning to the old tactics again – this time not for internal mobilization, but for international manipulation," Kovalenko believes.

He stressed that Ukraine has no motive to disrupt the meeting in Istanbul and has long agreed to a ceasefire.

"Therefore, a World War II-style rail war is an argument for Russian propaganda, not a tool of our policy," he wrote.

  • On the night of June 1 , two bridges collapsed in the Bryansk and Kursk regions. In the Bryansk region, a road bridge collapsed on a passenger train, killing at least seven people. In the Kursk region, an accident occurred on a railway bridge while a freight train was moving, with no fatalities reported.