Sixteen people have been killed and six injured after an explosion in a train station in the southern Russian city of Volgograd.
There are reports that a suicide bomber set off the blast. The blast occurred at approximately 12.45 pm local time (8.45 GMT).
It's believed the death toll may rise, after the explosion near the volatile North Caucasus region.
The region has been destabilised in recent years by attacks by Islamist extremists who have spread across the region following two wars in nearby Chechnya.
The city of Volgograd was hit by an attack by a female suicide bomber on October 21 that killed six people and injured thirty.
In July, Chechen insurgent leader Doku Umarov called an end to a yearlong ceasefire of attacks inside Russia and urged the use of “maximum force” to prevent the 2014 Winter Olympics, in the Russian city of Sochi, taking place. The games are due to start on February 7. Sochi is approximately 700km north-east of Volgograd. The Olympic city is just 400km from the areas of Dagestan and Chechnya, where the bulk of Russia’s rebels are based.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for today’s attack.
