Black smoke after a Russian army ammunition depot explosion near Mayskoye, Crimea, Ukraine, on Tuesday. Photo: AP
A series of fires and explosions transformed Crimea, a peninsula annexed by Russia, from a safe base to continue its invasion of Ukraine to the latest example of Moscow challenges in a war that will last six months and seems to get complicated for the troops on both sides.
“It is likely that Russian commanders are increasingly concerned about the apparent deterioration of security in the Crimeaserving as a rear base for the occupation, “a British defense intelligence report said Wednesday.
Russia itself also acknowledges that an “act of sabotage” caused Tuesday’s explosions and fires at an ammunition depot near Dzhankoi in previously safe Crimea. The episode caused chaos when about 3,000 people had to be evacuated.
In vivid reminder of Russia’s vulnerability in Crimea, the explosions at the site continued on Wednesday.
A week earlier, the Russian army in Crimea had already come under pressure when Ukraine said nine Russian planes had been destroyed in explosions. Moscow later said that an unlit cigarette may have been the cause of the accident.
Fire and black smoke following a fire at a power plant in the Dzhankoi district of Crimea on Tuesday. Photo: REUTERS
War Day 174: Sabotage destroys Russian ammunition depot in Crimea
No such explanation will suffice now that the war, long centered on brutal fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, is increasingly turning its gaze to southern Crimea.
explosions and doubts
The Kommersant business newspaper said explosions were also reported near Gvardeyskoye in the center of the peninsula, which worsened the situation in the region. Russian authorities remained silent on the matter on Wednesday.
The British intelligence report states that Gvardeyskoye and Dzhankoi “host two of the most important Russian military airports in Crimea”.
Ukraine has failed to claim responsibility for any of the explosions. Russia took over the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and used it to launch attacks on Ukraine in the war that began on February 24.
If the Ukrainian forces are behind the explosions, it would be a remarkable climb in the war. It would also mean that Ukrainian agents can enter Russian-occupied territory.
A satellite image shows a plane damaged by several explosions at a Russian base in Novofedorivka, Crimea last week. Photo: AFP
tough battle in the east
The two sides remained mired on the Eastern Front, where the brutality of the attacks continued to cause more death and destruction.
In the Donetsk region, which received the bulk of the Russian offensive, two civilians were killed and seven were injured by Russian bullets fired at various cities.
Russian long-range Tu-22M3 bombers fired cruise missiles into the Odessa region overnight, injuring four, according to regional administration spokesman Oleh Bratchuk.
In the southern city of Mykolaiv, two Russian missiles damaged a university building on Wednesday, leaving no injuries.
A building on fire after the impact of a Russian missile in Odessa this Wednesday. Photo: REUTERS
Russian forces also attacked Kharkov and several parts of the region overnight, damaging civilian buildings and infrastructure, although there were no casualties.
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, was to travel to Ukraine to meet with the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, and with Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the western city of Lviv.
They were expected to discuss grain shipments and a possible fact-finding mission to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control and which Kiev and Moscow accuse each other of attacking.
Source: AP
CB
Paul Byrne
Source: Clarin
