Aircraft of the Russian Black Sea Fleet are stationed at the Saki military airport. Several explosions occur at the base in the afternoon. Moscow denies hostile fire. A Ukrainian insider claims the opposite.
Several explosions occurred in the afternoon on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia. According to a media report, Ukrainian shelling could be responsible for this. The New York Times quotes a senior Ukrainian official as saying that the Russian air base at Saki was attacked by a weapon developed in Ukraine. "Planes regularly took off from this base to attack our troops in southern Ukraine," he said, explaining the reason for the attack. The insider did not reveal any further details to the newspaper.
The Russian government has so far confirmed several explosions at the airbase, but denies that Ukraine is responsible. According to them, an ammunition depot exploded. The Russian state news agency TASS, citing an official in the Moscow Ministry of Defense, reports that fire safety rules were disregarded in the camp. "There is no indication, evidence or even fact that the munitions were intentionally detonated." According to the information, the aircraft were not damaged.
Videos are circulating on social networks showing explosions and large clouds of smoke near bathing beaches. They are said to have been taken in the village of Nowofyodorovka, not far from the seaside resort of Yevpatoria. One person was killed, Crimean boss Sergei Aksjonov said, according to Russian agencies. Seven other people, including two children, were injured, according to local sources. Tourists fled the area. Aksyonov said an area within a five-kilometer radius around the base had been cordoned off. The fire was brought under control by evening.
The Saki military airport is located north of Sevastopol and is about 200 kilometers from the front in the west of the annexed peninsula. The base is home to the 43rd Naval Attack Regiment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Russian news agencies quoted the Russian army as saying that various ammunition had exploded. The ammunition depot was neither shot at nor bombed. First, Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Moscow-appointed governor of Crimea, reported "several explosions" in the area on Telegram.
In recent weeks, the Ukrainian military has used multiple rocket launchers from the United States to destroy several Russian ammunition dumps in the southern Kherson region near Crimea. However, some observers assume that the latest explosions were an act of sabotage, since the Ukrainian troops are more than 200 kilometers away from the Russian base. According to previous reports, the Ukrainian army does not currently have missiles with this range.
However, individual areas of Crimea are said to be within range of Ukrainian drones and cannons. For example, according to analyst Bogdan Voron, the attack could have been carried out using a weapon called the Grim-2. This is a mobile short-range ballistic missile system that is reportedly in the development phase. According to Voron, a Neptun-type anti-ship missile is also an option. The range of the rocket is 280 kilometers.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said it could not say what caused the explosions. However, there is a risk that Russia will falsify evidence of an alleged Ukrainian attack. August 9 is International Day of Indigenous Peoples, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram. In Ukraine, these included the Crimean Tatars, the Karaims and the Crimean Chaks. "Today's explosions in Nowofyodorovka are further evidence of who owns Crimea."
The Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak, on the other hand, announced further attacks on Russian military bases. "Demilitarization of the Russian Federation," he wrote on Twitter. Crimea has a future as a travel paradise without military bases of Russian occupiers. "That's just the beginning."
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Internationally, the peninsula, with a population of over two million, continues to be regarded as Ukrainian territory.
