A Russian cargo train crashed off the tracks following a suspected “sabotage attack”.

A major explosion is said to have destroyed tracks in the Ryazan region, around 130 miles southeast of Moscow. The Mirror reports the train was carrying a white powder cargo.

It is however unclear what the cargo is. Officials said the 19 carriages were transporting “mineral fertiliser”.

It was suspected that the attack was either by Ukrainians operatives in Russia, or Russian partisans sympathetic to Kyiv.

It came shortly after kamikaze drone attacks on a Russian gunpowder plant and a factory making Iskander-M and other missiles. The rail incident was quickly labelled “sabotage” by the authorities. It appeared that this specific train had been targeted.

CCTV footage is said to have caught the sound of a loud explosion. Russian Railways said the crash was “as a result of interference by unauthorised persons in the operation of railway transport”.

The carriages were thrown off the line at 7.12am local time, near the town of Rybnoye. The driver’s assistant sustained minor injuries, and an ambulance was called.

A report said: “There is no threat to the environment from the carriage derailment.”

A criminal investigation is now said to be underway.

Last week Vladimir Putin staged a “massive drill” simulating a “nuclear strike” on the West. The mass-scale exercises involved the launch of a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.