The “shipwreck” threatens the fragile peace talks between Russia and Ukraine anyway, as shortly before the two countries’ delegations go to Constantinople for the second round of discussions, two collapses of bridges in Russian areas are already “dynamic”.

However, as announced by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the Russian and Ukrainian delegation meeting was set at 1pm (2.00 pm Greece) at the Ciragan Palace.

Russia’s main investigative authority has launched criminal investigations into the two incidents that took place in Bryansk and Kursk, two Russian areas bordering Ukraine, and resulted in the derailments of two trains and the deaths of at least seven people and the injury of nearly 70 people.

The Russian authorities described the incidents as “terrorist attacks”, according to a spokesman for the country’s research committee, Svetlana Petrenko, in comments broadcast by state Russian television channel Rossiya 24.

Both Russian President Vladimir Putin has already been informed of the incidents, who received reports from the Russian FSB Security Service throughout the night, as well as other members of the Russian government, such as Prime Minister Michael Misutin and the head of the Ministry. And although the Kremlin has not made a formal comment so far, it is very likely to negatively affect the forthcoming conversations.

To what extent it remains to be seen later today, as the Russian president is expected to make statements about the two incidents.

Accusations

However, informal reports of officials from both countries are indicative of the prevailing explosive climate.

Russian officials accuse Ukraine of explosions that led to the collapses of the two bridges, stressing that it was clearly a sabotage aimed at diverting the peace talks for which the United States is pushing.

“This is definitely a work of Ukrainian Special Services,” said the chairman of the Russian Parliament Defense Committee, Andrei Cartapolov, on the Shot Telegram channel.

“All of this is aimed at hardening the position of the Russian Federation and motivating aggression before the negotiations. And also in the intimidation of the people. But they will not succeed, “he added.

Kiev has so far not made a formal comment. However, Andriy Kovalnko, head of the Ukrainian Center to fight propaganda, said on Sunday that the Kremlin could “prepare the ground for the interruption of talks”, adding that this is not the first time Russia has been attacking “false flags”.

The tense climate between the two sides, in view of the second round of talks in Istanbul, are also exacerbated by increasing attacks by both Russia and Ukraine.

In the early hours of the morning, Moscow launched an airport attack on the Ukrainian capital, which it tried to intercept Kiev, as the mayor of the city, Vitali Klitsko, made known through Telegram.

For its part, Ukraine today carried out a large coordinated attack with unmanned aircraft on a Russian military base in Siberia, in which it claims to hit more than 40 Russian aircraft, as a SBU’s internal security official, SBU, told Reuters.

The official, who spoke to the news agency on the condition that maintain his anonymity, said that the hit aircraft included strategically TU-95 and TU-22 bombers, which Russia is using to launch a large rocket.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Hur Intelligence Service said on Sunday that an explosion derailed a Russian military train carrying trucks and fuels near the settlement of Yakimivka, in a Russian -controlled part of the Zapizia area of ​​Ukraine. The service did not take responsibility or attributed to someone the explosion.

The “appointment” in Istanbul

In any case, the whole climate does not help at all the forthcoming negotiations scheduled to take place in Istanbul tomorrow, under the pressure of US President Donald Trump.

Trump has demanded both sides to go on direct talks with the aim of normalizing the situation and possibly a ceasefire.

Indeed, he threatened that otherwise the US would stop being involved in the war in Ukraine, leaving open the possibility of even postponing Ukraine to support the shoulders of European forces. Recently a leading US senator has warned Moscow that it would be “harshly” affected by new US sanctions.

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski said Sunday that Ukraine will attend the meeting in Istanbul on Monday, proposed by Russia.

“I described the positions (of Ukraine) in the face of the meeting in Istanbul on Monday,” Zelenski wrote on Telegram after meeting with Ukrainian officials.

He added that the head of the Ukrainian delegation would be again the Minister of Defense, Rustem Hemov.