Explosive devices detonated on railway tracks in Russia’s Oryol Oblast close to Ukraine’s border during a routine inspection, killing three officers and disrupting rail traffic.

The incident may be connected to Ukrainian sabotage operations targeting Russian railway infrastructure, though authorities have not confirmed the source of the explosives.

[Update] Ukrainian intelligence sources confirmed the railway attack was carried out by fighters from Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate and Special Operations Forces, according to hromadske news agency citing informed sources.

The targeted railway branches serve as critical logistical links for supplying Russian occupation forces on the Kharkiv and Sumy directions, the source stated.

On the evening of 13 September, Russian Railways workers discovered unknown mines on the Maloarkhangelsk — Glazunovka railway section, after which an engineering unit of the Russian National Guard special forces was called to the scene.

Three Russian National Guard officers died in the blast, with the death toll rising after an officer initially reported as critically wounded succumbed to his injuries.

Oryol Oblast Governor Andrei Klychkov said the blast occurred during inspection of the railway line.

“During the inspection of railway tracks, explosive devices were discovered, one of which exploded,” Klychkov stated.

The explosion caused significant disruption to rail traffic. Neighbouring Kursk Oblast Governor Alexander Khinshtein reported that 10 trains were delayed as of 8:40 p.m., affecting 457 passengers bound for Kursk.

Railway officials have restored traffic flow using alternative routing systems, though the investigation into the explosive devices continues.

The incident follows a pattern of infrastructure incidents in western Russian regions. On 1 June, two bridge collapses occurred overnight in Bryansk and Kursk oblasts.

In Bryansk, a highway bridge collapsed onto a passenger train near Vygonichi, killing seven people and injuring 66 others. A freight truck was crossing the bridge at the time of collapse.

In Kursk’s Zheleznogorsky district, a railway bridge collapsed as a freight train was crossing, causing the locomotive to catch fire and fall onto a highway below, injuring one crew member. Russian authorities initially attributed both June incidents to Ukrainian sabotage but later removed those claims.

An explosion occurred near a military unit on 8 September in Khabarovsk, Russia, according to Ukrainian media, citing verified sources in the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

The military facility, located a whopping 6,000 km from Ukraine, houses the 748th Separate Operational Battalion of Russia’s National Guard (Rosgvardia), which committed war crimes in Ukraine’s Kyiv Oblast during the early stages of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion.

The blasts, reportedly caused by two improvised explosive devices, went off around 9 am in the base’s parking lot as soldiers and officers were arriving for duty. DIU sources confirmed fatalities and injuries among Rosgvardia personnel.

Following the incident, Russian security services reportedly restricted mobile internet and rerouted public transportation to limit information about the explosion.

The 748th Battalion is known for committing atrocities against Ukrainian civilians during the first weeks of Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Then, Russia attempted, unuccessfully, to seize the Ukrainian capital, committing mass killings, torture, and looting in Kyiv’s suburbs, including Bucha, Irpin, and Dymer.

The Khabarovsk explosion follows a series of Ukrainian defense intelligence operations inside Russian territory.

In August 2025, DIU carried out a sabotage in Krasnodar Krai targeting the 90th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, resulting in at least 12 Russian military deaths, dozens of injuries, and the destruction of equipment.

Local residents confirmed mobile internet outages and unusual transport disruptions after the blasts. Russian authorities described these as security measures, but details on casualties and the cause of the explosion remain limited.

Striking units with a history of war crimes carries both tactical and psychological significance, exposing vulnerabilities in Russian military infrastructure and sending a clear message that impunity will not be tolerated.

A strike at the heart of Russia’s gas empire! Ukrainian forces hit a gas processing complex in Russia’s Ust-Luga, Leningrad Oblast, a strategic facility of the aggressor country in the Baltic region, according to Armiia TV. 

Target and consequences of the strike

“Ukrainian drones struck the gas processing complex of Novatek, the largest liquefied gas producer in Russia. The hit targeted the cryogenic fractionation unit for gas condensate/gas, which is the ‘heart’ of the facility’s technological processes,” the sources say.

This is the second successful attack on the Ust-Luga port in 2025, the first occurring in early January.

Strategic importance of Ust-Luga’s object

“Ust-Luga is Russia’s largest maritime hub in the Baltic. Shadow fleet, sanctioned oil — everything passes through there,” Lieutenant Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, stated. 

Thanks to precise drone strikes, the operation disrupted the work of a key Russian logistics hub supplying liquefied gas and oil to external markets.