FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

The world is on alert after a rocket engine explosion on a naval test range in northern Russia was linked to a shock radiation spike. The Kremlin have confirmed the “rocket engine explosion” killed two people and injured six. There are mounting concerns that the explosion took place during the testing of a new nuclear missile.

Local people were reportedly urged to take precautions against radiation. Adding to the fears, the Archangelsk base where the explosion took place has since been placed on emergency lockdown, with the nearby White Sea also closed. A Russian expert told the BBC that the Russian Ministry of Defence has refused to disclose the details behind the mysterious lockdown of the base. Dr Mark Galeotti said the incident was “clearly a bigger issue than the Russians are letting on”. JUST IN: Boris' trade chief reveals UK will leapfrog Germany with US trade deal

There are mounting concerns that the explosion took place during the testing of a nuclear missile

On Monday, a massive fire set off explosions in an arms depot at a base in Siberia

While the Ministry of Defence has rejected claims of a radiation leak, city officials in nearby Severodvinsk reported a radiation spike between 11:50 and 12:30 before falling and normalising by 14:00. Dr Galeotti said: “This depot seems to have been used for the testing of one of Russia’s new liquid-propelled nuclear missiles - it is a highly secretive. “The official response from the Defence Ministry has been ‘nothing to see here, no spike in radiation, no leak in radiation’. “All we seem to know is the number of dead and injured, and that it was a rocket test. The rest is gossip."

The Archangelsk base where the explosion took place has since been placed on emergency lockdown

Dr Mark Galeotti said the incident was “clearly a bigger issue than the Russians are letting on”

Trending