Crimea official says railway traffic suspended after reported blast

Rail traffic has been suspended between Simferopol, capital of the Crimean peninsula, and the city of Sevastopol, the region's Russian-installed leader said on Thursday.

In a statement posted on Telegram, the region's Russian-backed governor Sergei Aksyonov said that wagons loaded with grain had been derailed and that there were no injuries. Earlier, the Baza Telegram channel, which has links to Russian security services, had reported an explosion on a railway line in the region, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.