A Russian ammunition storage unit in northern Crimea has exploded, Russia’s Protection Ministry mentioned, injuring not less than two folks and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of close by residents. The ministry blamed the blast on sabotage.
Native information organizations, in the meantime, reported a second explosion on August 16 at a close-by electrical substation within the Dzhankoy district of the Russian-occupied Black Sea peninsula.
Stay Briefing: Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL’s Stay Briefing provides you all the newest developments on Russia’s ongoing invasion, how Kyiv is preventing again, Western army assist, world response, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL’s protection of the conflict, click on right here.
It was unclear if the 2 incidents, which occurred across the similar time, had been associated.
Ukrainian officers averted publicly or immediately claiming accountability for the incidents however some appeared to recommend Kyiv was concerned.
Crimea was captured and annexed by Russia in 2014 and continues to be internationally acknowledged as Ukrainian territory, however Moscow has threatened extreme reprisals for any assaults on the peninsula.
The New York Instances quoted an unnamed senior Ukrainian official as saying an elite Ukrainian army unit that was working behind enemy strains was accountable for the explosions.
The pinnacle of Zelenskiy’s workplace, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Twitter that “the Ukrainian Armed Forces proceed the filigree ‘demilitarization’ operation to totally rid our land of Russian invaders.”
“Our troopers are the most effective sponsors of a very good temper,” Yermak added, “Crimea is Ukraine.”
Mykhaylo Podolyak, one other prime Zelenskiy aide, mentioned on Twitter that thenewest blasts had been a reminder that the “Crimea occupied by Russians is about warehouses, explosions and a excessive threat of demise for invaders and thieves.”
“What’s stolen doesn’t convey prosperity,” Podolyak later advised Ukrainian tv.
Video and pictures posted on Telegram and different social media confirmed a collection of blasts and explosions within the district, which isn’t removed from the executive border with the mainland Ukrainian area of Kherson, now occupied by Russian forces.
Russia’s Protection Ministry mentioned in an announcement that the explosion occurred at a short lived storage facility for ammunition. The ministry later blamed the blast on unidentified saboteurs.
“On the morning of August 16, because of sabotage, a army warehouse close to the village of Dzhankoy was broken. Various civilian amenities, together with energy strains, an influence plant, a railway observe, in addition to quite a lot of residential buildings, had been broken,” the ministry mentioned in an announcement.
“There are not any severe casualties. Mandatory measures are being taken to eradicate the implications of sabotage,” it added.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed governor for the peninsula, mentioned two folks had been injured and that railway visitors had been disrupted. About 3,000 folks had been additionally evacuated from a close-by village, he mentioned.
Refat Chubarov, a distinguished chief of the Crimean Tatar group, additionally mentioned in a publish on Fb that the explosion occurred at an ammunition depot.
Two native Crimea information organizations, Kryminform and Crimean Wind, reported {that a} transformer at {an electrical} substation had additionally exploded or caught hearth.
Russia’s Vitality Ministry was quoted by information businesses as confirming a fireplace on the Crimea substation, however mentioned it had been contained. No trigger was given.
The incidents got here roughly per week after a collection of explosions tore by means of Russia’s Saky air base in a western district of Crimea, destroying quite a lot of Russian warplanes.
There’s been no affirmation as to what brought on these explosions, although satellite tv for pc imagery confirmed intensive destruction on the base. Most observers recommend Ukrainian forces had been accountable however Kyiv has not claimed any accountability.
Satellite tv for pc Photographs Of Russian Base In Occupied Crimea Earlier than And After Huge Explosions
Satellite tv for pc photographs taken earlier than and after explosions rocked a Russian air base in occupied Crimea reveal intensive harm inflicted by the blasts.
Unidentified Ukrainian officers have advised U.S. media that their armed forces had been accountable for the explosions however didn’t give additional particulars. Russian officers say an unintended munitions explosion brought on the explosions.
Mykhaylo Podolyak, a prime aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, mentioned in a publish to Twitter that the most recent blasts had been a reminder that the “Crimea occupied by Russians is about warehouses, explosions and a excessive threat of demise for invaders and thieves.”
“What’s stolen doesn’t convey prosperity,” Podolyak later advised Ukrainian tv.
The Dzhankoy district is about 50 kilometers from the Russian-occupied area of Kherson in southern Ukraine.
With reporting by Crimea.Realities, a undertaking of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, and AP
