Crimea official says rail traffic suspended after derailment

In a statement posted on Telegram, Sergei Aksyonov said that wagons loaded with grain had derailed and no one was injured. 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.

Rail traffic has been suspended between Simferopol, capital of the Crimean peninsula, and the city of Sevastopol, after a freight train carrying grain derailed, the region's Russian-installed leader said on Thursday.

The derailment was caused by "interference by outsiders", Crimean railways said in a statement. In a statement posted on Telegram, Sergei Aksyonov said that wagons loaded with grain had derailed and no one was injured.

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. On Wednesday, Russia renewed the Black Sea grain deal, a Turkish-brokered accord which facilitates agricultural exports from Russia and Ukraine on the Black Sea.