Rail traffic has been suspended between two major cities of the Crimean peninsula after a freight train carrying grain was derailed, the region's Russian-installed leader said on Thursday.
Rail services were halted between Simferopol, the capital of the annexed peninsula, and the city of Sevastopol following the derailment, which Crimean railways said was caused by "interference by outsiders" in a statement following the incident. There were no reported injuries.
Baza, a Kremlin-aligned Telegram channel which has links to Russian security services, reported an explosion on a railway line in the region of Simferopol at 08:20 am local time.
"About 50 metres of track were damaged. A large crater was found at the site of the IED explosion. A total of eight cars came off the tracks, five of which overturned." The channel also shared purported images of the overturned train, which showed two carriages on their side.
Earlier this month, two freight trains were derailed in Russia's Bryansk region following explosions on the tracks. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for any of the incidents.
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In its latest daily intelligence update, the UK ministry of defence has said that the Russian state is "likely effectively banning senior officials from resigning from their jobs while the 'Special Military Operation' continues".
The ministry added that they believe it likely that the ban is being "enforced with strong hints that resignees will face trumped up criminal charges".
"In private, many officials are likely highly sceptical about the war, as well as often experiencing work stress within the dysfunctional wartime apparatus."
Ukrainian air defences shot down 29 out of 30 Russian cruise missiles overnight, according to the nation's military.
"The Russian occupiers launched several waves of missile attacks from different directions. A total of 30 sea, air and land-based cruise missiles were launched," the military said, adding that Ukrainian air defence systems had "destroyed 29 cruise missiles."
Among the areas targeted were the capital Kyiv and the southern city of Odesa. The military also reported "cruise missile" attacks in the central Vinnytsia region, with local media reporting explosions in Khmelnytskyi, approximately 100 kilometres west of the region.
Japan is set to receive Ukrainian soldiers at a hospital run by its military in Tokyo, a senior member of the country's ruling coalition said on Thursday.
The deal, not yet made public, will be the latest support measure from Tokyo for Ukraine since Russia invaded last year.
Details will be decided at a meeting between Japanese defence minister Yasukazu Hamada and Ukrainian ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky later on Thursday, but costs will likely be mostly covered by Japan, the lawmaker, who wished to remain anonymous, told Reuters..
Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told a visiting Chinese official that his government wouldn't accept any proposal to end Russia's invasion that involved the loss of territory or the "freezing" of conflict, Sophia Yan reports.
Mr Kuleba discussed with special envoy Li Hui "ways to stop Russian aggression", the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement.
He also stressed "the principles of restoring a stable and just peace based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."
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One person has been killed and two others injured in strikes on the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, officials have said.
Overnight strikes also targeted Kyiv, with the head of the capital's military administration writing on Telegram that the city was attacked by cruise missiles but all were downed by air defences.
Serhii Popko wrote: "A series of air attacks on Kyiv, unprecedented in their power, intensity and variety, continues."
Falling debris caused two fires in the city, but there were no casualties from either of the incidents, according to the city's mayor Vitaly Klitschko.
Baza, a Kremlin-aligned Telegram channel, shared what they claimed were the "first photos" of the train derailed in Crimea on Thursday morning. Baza reported that the incident occurred at 08:20am near the village of Chistenkoe, near Simferopol, the second-largest city in Crimea.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of the annexed region, said in a statement on Telegram that a freight train carrying grain was derailed in the Simferopol district and that nobody was injured.
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