At least two people have been injured in a series of explosions at a military base in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Russian officials said a fire broke out at an arms dump in northern Crimea’s Dzhankoi area. A fire also broke out in the power substation. The cause of the blasts is unclear, but last week Russian warplanes were destroyed in an apparent attack by Ukraine off the Crimean coast.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the fire started at a temporary ammunition storage site near the village of Mek around 06:15 Moscow time (03:15 GMT), and the cause was being investigated. The ministry said there were no “serious” casualties, but a Russian-appointed official said two people were injured.
Adviser to Ukraine’s presidential office, Mykhailo Podolik, described the incident as “demilitarization in action”, indicating that the explosions were not accidental. A Crimean Tatar leader, Refuat Chubarov, also told the blasts as a “hit” that could be heard “across the steppe”.
Crimea was seized from Ukraine and then annexed by Russia in early 2014. When Russian forces unleashed a new invasion in February, they used their bases on the peninsula to capture large swathes of southern Ukraine.
After a Russian air base at Saky was hit last Tuesday, satellite images revealed significant damage, with at least eight warplanes destroyed. Although Russia said that incident was also accidental, it was clear that the base had come under Ukrainian attack. The UK Ministry of Defence said the blasts had “significantly degraded” the aviation capability of the Russian navy’s Black Sea fleet.