A stretch of Russian railroad near the Ukrainian border was destroyed on Tuesday morning, the region’s governor announced.
The destroyed railroad comes after several Russian border regions including Belgorod raised their “terror” threat level to “yellow,” the second-highest in a three-tier system, as Russia’s nearly seven-week invasion of Ukraine shifts its focus toward eastern Ukraine.
No one was killed or injured in the incident, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Gladkov did not specify what exactly destroyed the railway tracks along the Belgorod-Nezhegol line. He said a team of investigators has been deployed to the site to determine the cause.
Train passengers were evacuated and brought to their destinations by bus, Gladkov said, and a free bus service will transport locals until the train service is restored.
Citizens of the small town of Shebekino near the railroad reportedly heard explosions at 7 a.m.
Two hours later, kindergartens in Shebekino were evacuated due to a wave of bomb threats, the town mayor told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
Belgorod authorities announced the formation of “voluntary militia units” following the news.
Ukrainian military intelligence warned Tuesday that Russia could be planning to stage terror attacks on its own territory and blame them on Ukraine.
“It is quite possible that these attacks will be presented as the Ukrainians’ revenge for Bucha and Kramatorsk and as an excuse for cruelty toward the civilian population of Ukraine,” Major General Kirill Budanov said.
Earlier in April, Belgorod authorities accused Ukrainian helicopters of striking an oil depot on its territory, an incident the Kremlin said would hinder peace talks.
