The Second Eastern District Military Court has sentenced Belarusian citizen Sergey Eremeev to 22 years in prison in connection with the bombing of trains on the Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM) in Buryatia two years ago. According to the court’s press service, Eremeev is to serve the first five years in prison, with the remainder of the term in a high-security penal colony.
According to investigators, in October 2023 Eremeev allegedly agreed to join a terrorist organization for financial compensation while communicating “with an unidentified person via the Signal and Telegram messengers.” In the same month, the defendant reportedly retrieved improvised explosive devices from a cache located on Belarusian territory.
In November 2023, investigators claim, Eremeev transported the explosive devices to Buryatia and then planted them on a section of the East Siberian Railway, as well as on freight trains traveling along it. As a result of the explosions, the investigation says, property damage exceeding 100 million rubles was caused, including the destruction and damage of railway tank cars and equipment.
The first explosion on the BAM occurred on the night of November 29–30, 2023. Four explosive devices detonated in the Severomuysk Tunnel while a freight train was moving along the Itykit–Okusikan section of the East Siberian Railway. The Telegram channel Baza, which is linked to Russian law-enforcement agencies, reported that three fuel tank cars were damaged, one of them completely burned out. Russian authorities officially reported only smoke inside one of the tank cars.
The second explosion occurred on November 30 on a bypass track that had been used to reroute trains during repairs following the fire. Ukrainian media reported that Ukrainian intelligence services were involved in the explosions. The same version was later reported by the U.S. television network CNN, citing its own sources.
There has been no information on whether the convicted man admitted guilt.
The Severomuysk Tunnel is the longest tunnel on the BAM, measuring approximately 15 kilometers. The Baikal–Amur Mainline is a parallel route to the Trans-Siberian Railway and is used, among other things, for transporting cargo from China.
