A massive explosion that shook Crimea this morning has been attributed by Russia to “sabotage,” only days after another explosion in the area almost completely destroyed a military airstrip.
Early on Tuesday, at least one explosion occurred close to the city of Dzhankoi in northern Crimea, damaging what was thought to be either a Russian fuel or ammo depot that was adjacent to a railroad.
According to the Moscow defence ministry, a fire that destroyed “a military storage facility in the town of Dzhankoi” at approximately 6.15 am was started by sabotage.
Several civilian infrastructures, including electrical lines, a power plant, a railroad track, and a number of residential buildings, were damaged. No significant injuries were reported, it was said.
Separately, inhabitants of the area informed the Russian business daily Kommersant that on Tuesday, massive explosions shook an air base in Gvardeyskoye, central Crimea, and sent plumes of black smoke into the air.
Although neither Moscow nor Kiev have claimed responsibility for the strikes, they come only days after a similar explosion at a Russian airstrip in the town of Saki last week that claimed at least seven aircraft.
An unnamed official said that the assault was carried out by Ukrainian special troops. Despite being a part of Ukraine, Russian forces have been in control of Crimea since 2014.
Following a fake vote that indicated people preferred becoming a part of the mainland, Putin claims it as Russian property.
Experts are puzzled by the recent explosions, which are the first substantial Ukrainian strikes on the peninsula since it was taken and occurred at locations considerably outside the existing missile range of Ukraine.
According to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, a transformer substation in the town of Dzhankoi, 14 miles from the ammo storage, also caught fire early on Tuesday.
A railway line that serves as a vital rail connection between Crimea and the Russian mainland was destroyed by the explosions at the military storage complex.
2,000 passengers were left stranded as trains were immediately halted, according to authorities on the seized peninsula.
Russia has been fighting with more soldiers than usual, and the damage to the rail system may now prevent that from happening.
Although the origin of the explosions is not yet known, there will likely be accusations that it was a Ukrainian sabotage strike on the peninsula that Putin seized.
Although Russian leaders have publicly applauded explosions in Crimea, Ukraine has not formally admitted or disputed involvement for them.
This is despite the fact that up until last week, the region looked to be secure under Moscow’s control and out of strike range.
A reminder: Crimea (as a) normal nation is about the Black Sea, mountains, leisure, and tourism, but Crimea invaded by Russians is about warehouse explosions and high danger of death for invaders and thieves, tweeted Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak on Tuesday. Actions toward demilitarisation.
The explosions occurred just a few days after a series of deadly bombings at the Saki air force facility in Crimea damaged at least seven Russian jets and wrecked ammunition storage facilities.
It also happens the day after Ukraine used HIMARS to attack a Wagner military installation in the seized city of Popasna after a Russian war propagandist unintentionally divulged its position.
The fire started in a temporary storage section of the munitions stockpile, according to the Russian Defense Ministry today, although no “severe” fatalities were reported.
Moscow said that the fire at the depot started about 6.15 a.m. local time (03.15 gmt), resulting in the explosion of munitions.
As video seemed to show a succession of explosions at the ammo dump, with clouds of black smoke pouring into the air, some 2,000 locals were evacuated from the vicinity.
Seven passenger trains were delayed, according to Russia’s RIA news agency, and rail service was interrupted on a portion of the line in northern Crimea after the explosions damaged a railway line.
A bus service will be offered, according to Aksyonov, so that passengers could continue travelling.
According to video, employees are seen working fast to restore the damaged train connection between the Russian mainland and the Crimean peninsula.
The majority of the world recognises Crimea as Ukrainian territory, but it has been under Russian authority since 2014 and has served as a key staging area for the military operation Russia began on February 24 in Ukraine.
A recent claim of explosions in Crimea has neither been officially verified nor rejected by Ukraine.
The exact number of explosions was not specified in the Russian sources.
The incident came only days after several explosions decimated the Saki air force facility in Crimea, causing Russian President Vladimir Putin to suffer yet another humiliating defeat.
The blasts on August 9 damaged ammo storage facilities and at least seven Russian fighter planes.
Russia denied both that an assault took place and that any planes were damaged in last week’s explosions.
However, images of the Saki airfield in Crimea released by the US-based satellite imaging firm Planet Labs PBC revealed unequivocally that at least seven fighter jets had been destroyed in what is generally believed to have been an attack by the Ukrainian military.
The Washington Post was informed by an unnamed authority that the strike had been carried out by Ukrainian special forces.
Tourists fled from a neighbouring beach in fright as a result of the explosions, which left one person dead and 14 injured. Smoke plumes snaked around the shoreline.
Although they refrained from taking blame for the explosions in the open, Ukrainian authorities claimed that at least nine aircraft had been damaged and ridiculed Russia’s theory that a careless smoker may have set ordnance at the Saki air base on fire and exploded it.
The explosives, if they were caused by Ukrainian troops, would be the first significant strike on a Russian military facility on the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.
From the Saki airfield, Russian aeroplanes have conducted countless airstrikes on Ukraine’s southeast.
One square mile of grassland was completely burnt to the ground in the images from Planet Labs, which were taken around 24 hours after the blasts at the Saki facility in Crimea.
The smouldering remains of numerous jets are plainly visible, and multiple holes, which are generally the result of a massive explosion, have been left on the ground close to the tarmac.
While several of the fighter planes on the flight line had been relocated farther down the runway and looked to have avoided the explosions, the two runways appeared to be unharmed and to be continuing in use.
Since Moscow conquered Crimea, the facility has served as the base of the Russian 43rd Independent Naval Assault Air Squadron.
The squadron, which operates Sukhoi Su-24 and Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft, has been crucial in providing air support and conducting airstrikes across southeast Ukraine.
Both parties place great strategic and symbolic importance on the Crimea.
One of the primary requirements of any future cease-fire deal, according to the Kremlin, is that Ukraine acknowledge Crimea as a part of Russia.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, vowed this week that his country would expel the Russians from the peninsula, saying that “Crimea is Ukrainian, and we will never give it up.” With the liberation of Crimea, the Russian offensive against Ukraine and all of free Europe must come to a halt.
A Wagner military facility in the seized city of Popasna was accidentally exposed by a Russian war propagandist, according to a statement from Ukraine yesterday. As a result, HIMARS were employed to hit the site.
Sergei Sreda, a war propagandist from Russia, posed with mercenaries wearing battle gear during a recent visit to Wagner’s Ukraine headquarters.
But Sreda may have killed the guys by accidentally photographing a street sign that provided the address of a nearby bomb shelter, revealing the base’s position in the city of Popasna, which is now under occupation.
That was all the information specialists needed to identify the base, after which Ukraine launched a HIMARS hit.
On Sunday, Telegram channels connected to Wagner started posting pictures of the aftermath, including soldiers being carried away on stretchers, which served as confirmation that it had been hit.
It is only the most recent humiliating failure for Vladimir Putin’s soldiers, who have already been forced to retire from Kyiv, seen the Black Sea flagship Moskva sunk, withdrew from Snake Island, and last week seen an airfield in Crimea almost disappear off the face of the earth.