A female suicide bomber killed 14 people and injured 42 people in an explosion at a Russian train station. A Russian health ministry spokesman Rossiya-24 television that as many as 50 people were wounded.

Volgograd is near Russia's North Caucasus about 690 kilometers northwest of the site where the Winter Olympics will be held, in Sochi.

This is the second deadly attack in three days as Russia gets ready to host the Winter Olympics. Seven people were killed in Volgograd on Oct. 21 in an attack by a female suicide bomber. Three people were killed by a car bomb in the southern Russian city of Pyatigorsk  on Friday. Pyatigorsk is 270 kilometers east of Sochi.

The female suicide bomber set off the explosion in the city of Volgograd. Russian police said the explosion happened at the entrance of the Volgograd railway station.

A female suicide bomber blew herself up in the entrance hall of a Russian train station. Russian police responded along with firefighters, Emergency Ministry members and medics.

According to the state Investigative Committee, the female suicide bomber detonated an explosive device right in front of a of Volgograd station's metal detector. TV footage showed that the explosion blew out windows and filled the station with smoke and an orange fireball.

The Volgograd station was busier than usual. People were travelling for the New Year holidays.

Vladimir Kolesnikov of Russia's state police said security would be stepped up at train stations and airports.

President Putin ordered law enforcement agencies to take all necessary measures to ensure security.

Volgograd has about 1 million people. Sochi's Winter Olympics aims to be a major prestige project for president Vladimir Putin. The Winter Olympics is set to begin on February 7th.

Volgograd is a Muslim province that has been hit with violence almost daily by Islamist insurgency. Chechen warlord Doku Umarov, an insurgent leader posted a video in July urging militants to use "maximum force" to stop the Olympics.

This is the deadliest attack on Russia since January 2011, when 37 people were killed at a Moscow airport by Islamist insurgents.