Freight train carrying grain derails in Crimea, says official

ISTANBUL

A freight train carrying grain in Crimea derailed on Thursday, said the Russian-appointed head of the region, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

Sergey Aksyonov said in a statement on Telegram that no casualties were reported in the incident, and that the movement of electric trains on the Simferopol-Sevastopol railway line has been suspended.

The Russia-administered railway company in the region claimed in a separate statement on Telegram that the freight train derailed due to the “intervention of unauthorized persons.”

Meanwhile, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, claimed that the train may also have been carrying heavy weapons and military equipment due to which the tracks broke.

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the Black Sea grain deal, also called the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was set to expire on May 18, was extended for two months.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine initially signed the agreement in Istanbul last July to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were halted after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022.

The deal has been extended thrice since it was first signed for 120 days. It was first extended in November 2022 and then in March.