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Massive explosions and fires ripped through Crimea on Tuesday, forcing evacuation of 3,000 residents as the Ukraine war appears to be spreading to the peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014.
The Russian Defense Ministry blamed « sabotage » for explosions at a military warehouse near Dzhankoya. Power lines, a power plant, a railway track and a number of residential buildings were damaged, the ministry said in a statement obtained by the Russian news outlet Kommersant. The explosion was described as a diversion.
No serious injuries were reported. Another fire was reported at a power substation, but officials did not indicate whether it was related to the ammunition blast.
“We are in a state of emergency,” said Sergey Aksenov, the Russian leader of the Crimean administration.
Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak did not claim Ukraine responsibility for the incident but tweeted that “Crimea occupied by Russians is about warehouses explosions and high risk of death for invaders and thieves.”
Last week, the Russian military blamed a series of explosions at the Saki air base on an accidental detonation of munitions there, but the incident appeared to be a Ukrainian attack.
