Crimean air base razed to the ground by three explosions. Photo: AFP / Satellite image © 2022 Maxar Technologies
ODESA, Ukraine – After the explosions tore through a Russian airbase in Crimea on Tuesday, the Russian defense ministry rushed the extent of the damage is minimized and said an ammunition blast left no casualties and no equipment was destroyed.
Videos of the scene and the assessment of local officials, who declared a state of emergencyThey told a different storywith at least a dead personmore than a dozen wounded and hundreds moved into shelters.
More than 60 apartment buildings were damaged, along with 20 shops and other buildings, authorities said. And on the grounds of the base, after they have been cleared the huge columns of smokeapparently you could see the remains of a fighter plane loose on the track. Satellite images showed craters, burn marks and at least eight destroyed fighters.
Satellite images showed craters, burn marks and at least eight destroyed fighters. Photo: Reuters
The images and report from local officials contradicted the Kremlin’s previous account of what had happened in Crimea, a strategic peninsula in southern Ukraine that Russia illegally annexed in 2014 and suggested that the destruction there was much greater than recognized.
Shame on Putin
If the Ukrainian armed forces and partisans were responsible for the explosions, as one senior Ukrainian official claimed, that would represent not only a shame for President Vladimir Putin, who often celebrates annexation, but also a challenge to skills of its armed forces to defend the occupied territory which it has heavily fortified for years.
It is not yet clear whether the explosions will hamper Russia’s ability to defend itself against the development of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south. But the extensive damage to areas near the blast, along with satellite images and videos of the plane wreck, suggest a significant destruction of military assets that will be crucial as Russia tries to keep the territories occupied in the early days of the war.
The base houses fighters and helicopters which Ukrainian authorities say were used to lethal effects in the battle for the Ukrainian Black Sea coastal region. The Ukrainian military intelligence service has appointed several dozen pilots from the base which it accused of carrying out attacks in civil areas.
Damage to the airbase itself was difficult to assess on Wednesday. A video that emerged later, verified by the New York Times, showed the charred nose of a fighter jet, its fuselage. a black, shapeless mass.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the incident was caused by the explosion of ammunition stored for aircraft basic combat. The statement did not mention Ukraine or its military.
“);}} var currDuration = $ (‘#’ + currId + ‘.jw-text-countdown’)[0].textContent; $ (‘#’ + currId + ‘.jw-title-secondary p’). text (currDuration); }} if ($ (“# embeb_sMgBA5iH”). children (). length> 0) {setTitle (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”); } else {jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). on (‘ready’, function (event) {setTitle (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”); var labelVideo = JSON.parse (jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylistItem (). comscore); n .StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer (jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”), {publisherId: “6906409”, labelmapping: ‘c3 = “‘ + labelVideo.c3 + ‘”, c4 = “* null”, c6 = “* null”, ns_site = ” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_site +’ “, ns_st_dt =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_dt +’ “, ns_st_pl =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_pl +’ “, ns_st_ep =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_ep +’ “, ns_st_pr =” ‘+ label_Video.ns. “, ns_st_mp =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_mp +’ “, ns_st_cl =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_cl +’ “, ns_st_pu =” Clarin Digital “, ns_st_st =” ‘+ labelVideo.c3 +’ “‘});}); } jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). on (‘pause’, function (event) {var passId = “embeb_sMgBA5iH”; var site = “clarin”; if (site == ‘clarin’) {if ($ (‘# customTitleFor ‘+ passId) .length == 0) {var title = jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylist ()[0].title; // $ ($ (“#” + passId + “.genoaPlayerV3 .vjs-overlay.vjs-overlay-top.vjs-overlay-background”)). addClass (‘disabled’); $ (“#” + IDpass) .append (“
“+ title +”
“); $ (” # customTitleFor “+ passId) .attr (‘style’, ‘display: block’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-media “). addClass (‘degraded’);} else {var curTitle = $ (“# customTitleFor” + passId)[0].textContent; var newTitle = jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylist ()[0].title; if (newTitle! = curTitle) {$ (“# customTitleFor” + passId) .text (newTitle); } $ (“# customTitleFor” + passId) .attr (‘style’, ‘display: block’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-media”). addClass (‘degraded’); } // $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-controlbar”). addClass (‘disabled’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-play”). css (“display”, “block”); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-pause”). css (“display”, “none”); } else {$ (“#” + passId + “.jw-media”). addClass (‘degraded’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-title”). css (‘display’, ‘block’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-controlbar”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display”). css (‘display’, ‘flex’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-rewind”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-next”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); } sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylist (), ‘pause’); }); jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). on (‘play’, function (event) {var passId = “embeb_sMgBA5iH”; var site = “clarin”; if (site == ‘clarin’) {if ($ (‘# customTitleFor’ + passId) .length! = 0) {$ (“# customTitleFor” + passId) .attr (‘style’, ‘display: none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-media”). removeClass (‘degraded’);} // $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-controlbar”). removeClass (‘disabled’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-play” ) .css (“display”, “none”); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-pause”). css (“display”, “block”);} else {$ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-media “). removeClass (‘degraded’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-title “). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-controlbar “). css (‘display’, ‘block’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-display “). css (‘display’, ‘flex’) ; $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-rewind”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-next” ) .css (‘display’, ‘none’);} sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylist (), ‘resume’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). on (‘firstFrame’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylist (), ‘start’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). on (‘complete’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylist (), ‘complete’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). on (‘adStarted’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylist (), ‘adstart’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). on (‘adPlay’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylist (), ‘adplay’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). on (‘adPause’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylist (), ‘adpause’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). on (‘adComplete’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_sMgBA5iH”). getPlaylist (), ‘adcomplete’);});
Michael Schwirtz, Alan Yuhas and Christiaan Triebert
Source: Clarin
