A train was blown off the rails in Russian-annexed Crimea in a suspected sabotage attack linked to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The explosion at 8.20am local time - 6.20am BST - damaged 165ft of track with eight cargo carriages derailing, five of which overturned.
The carriages, believed to be carrying grain, were thrown off the track in the blast.
Russian news outlet Mash said an explosive device had been laid under the track near the village of Chistenkoye, in the disputed zone.
A crater 7ft deep and almost 50ft in diameter was reported by eyewitnesses. The line links Simferopol with Black Sea naval base Sevastopol.
There were no reported casualties.
Head of the annexed Putin-appointed government of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said that the FSB security service was investigating the blast.
The head of Ukrainian military intelligence Major-General Kyrylo Budanov, 37, has admitted being behind attacks in Russian occupied territory, and also assassinations of “war criminals”.
"We've already successfully targeted quite a few people. There have been well-publicised cases everyone knows about, thanks to the media coverage," he said.
Earlier he said in reference to attacks on infrastructure: “Much of this is no accident… Something is constantly on fire [in Russia].
“Signalling equipment on railways, it lights up several times a day, on various highways constantly for two to three hours, sometimes for five to six hours, traffic gets suspended.”
He admitted Kyiv is behind some of the sabotage attacks, while also suggesting anti-war Russians have staged attacks.
Budanov added: “Clearly it doesn’t just happen like this…. I would put it this way: money works wonders.”
