Russia/Ukraine: Huge explosions and fires jolted a military depot in Russia-annexed Crimea on Tuesday, compelling the urgent evacuation of more than 3,000 people in the area, the second instance in recent days that the Ukraine war’s focus has turned to the contested peninsula.
Merely days after a fire ravaged the Saki airbase, an ammunition depot exploded in northern Crimea, injuring two people on Tuesday, as per AP reports citing local officials.
The fiery blaze and blasts rattled the village of Mayskoye in the Dzhankoi district of Crimea early Tuesday, according to Russian state media. The Russian Defence Ministry gave a statement indicating that a fire erupted at a “site for the temporary storage of ammunition of one of the military units.” The Kremlin also said later on Tuesday that these Crimean explosions were the “result of sabotage”.
Just a week earlier, Russian forces based in Crimea had faced another roadblock when Ukraine declared that nine Russian warplanes were destroyed in an attack. Another update came when a local business paper called Kommersant announced that explosions had also taken place near Gvardeyskoye in the centre of the peninsula.
British Defence Intelligence stated on Wednesday that, “Russian commanders will highly likely be increasingly concerned with the apparent deterioration in security across Crimea, which functions as a rear base area for the occupation.”
If Ukraine is true to be held responsible for these inconclusive attacks, that would mean a significant escalation in the war. Such operations would also suggest that Ukrainian forces have successfully penetrated Russian strongholds.
In other news, United Nations Secretary-general Antonio Guterres is all set to travel to Ukraine to the western city of Lviv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss grain shipments and possible research missions to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Also Read: Russian Troops Strike Ukraine’s Donetsk Region; Heavy Shelling Continues
