Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine’s leadership of orchestrating terrorist attacks on Russian territory to derail peace talks and cling to power. Speaking Wednesday, Putin said recent railway sabotage in Bryansk and Kursk—where bridge collapses killed seven and injured over 120—was a deliberate strike on civilians meant to disrupt negotiations.
Putin blamed Ukraine’s top political leadership for the attacks, calling them “undoubtedly a terrorist act,” and said Kiev’s Western backers had become “accomplices to terrorists.” He warned that the Ukrainian regime, “rotten and corrupt,” was increasingly relying on terror as its military retreats and battlefield losses mount.
The sabotage, timed just before a new round of peace talks in Istanbul, coincided with a spike in Ukrainian drone raids. Putin accused Kiev of using the violence to undercut negotiations while simultaneously requesting a temporary ceasefire—an offer he called insincere and strategically manipulative.
“Who conducts negotiations with those who rely on terror?” he asked, arguing that any pause would allow Ukraine to regroup and rearm.
Putin added that Kiev’s rejection of Russian ceasefire proposals shows it is not interested in peace, saying, “For them, peace likely means a loss of power.” He also criticized Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s recent insults toward Russian negotiators, calling them proof of a leadership lacking competence and basic political culture.
