(Moscow) A Russian freight train derailed on Tuesday after the detonation of an explosive device, the second in two days, while acts of sabotage multiply.

Russia and annexed Crimea are the target of a series of attacks which Kyiv, which recently claimed that its preparations for a counter-offensive were nearing completion, has not claimed responsibility for.

In four days, explosive devices derailed two freight trains and damaged a high-voltage line in the Leningrad region (north-west), a drone attack caused a huge fire in an oil depot in annexed Crimea and a Ukrainian strike left four dead in the Bryansk region.

The incidents come as Russia prepares to celebrate May 9, which marks the victory over Nazi Germany, a period of patriotic fervor and a highlight of President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

On Tuesday, “an unidentified explosive device was detonated near the Snejetskaya train station,” said the governor of the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, Alexander Bogomaz.

“The incident resulted in the derailment of a locomotive and several train cars,” he added, adding that there were no casualties.

The station is located two kilometers from the region’s main city, Bryansk, which has a population of nearly 370,000.

On Monday, an explosion had already derailed a freight train, which had partially caught fire, near the town of Ounetcha, even closer to the Ukrainian border.

Russia’s state-owned railway company blamed the derailment of a freight train on Tuesday on “the intervention of unauthorized persons in the work of rail transport,” without mentioning an explosive device.

The company said the incident occurred at 7:47 p.m. local time (12:47 p.m. Eastern Time) between Snejetskaya and the village of Belye Berega.

She alleged that the locomotive and “about 20 cars” had derailed and that traffic on that section had been suspended.

Numerous sabotages on railways in Russia have been reported since Moscow launched its offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.

The Russian authorities have also repeatedly denounced incursions by Ukrainian armed groups into its territory, particularly in the Bryansk region.

But this is the first time this week that officials have confirmed attacks of this magnitude. Since the beginning of the offensive in Ukraine, the Kremlin has tried to present Russia as a safe country.

Earlier in the day on Tuesday, he acknowledged the current security threat.

“Of course, we are aware that the Kyiv regime, which is behind a number of these attacks, terrorist attacks, intends to continue along this path,” its spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“Our intelligence services are doing everything necessary to ensure security,” he added.

In recent weeks, the Russian authorities have been insisting that the terrorist risk has increased. Many public events organized in early May for major national holidays were canceled due to threats deemed too high.