Russia blames new Crimea explosions on sabotage

• Explosions rocked armaments store at another military station in Crimea.
• Russian officials initially claimed explosions were caused by fire before blaming “sabotage”.
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• A separate fire broke out at a power substation, causing damage to a train.

A week after an apparent Ukrainian strike on a Russian military base in occupied Crimea, a series of explosions rocked an armaments store at another military station.

Russian officials initially claimed that the Dzhankoi explosions were caused by a fire before blaming “sabotage.”

A separate fire broke out at a power substation, causing damage to a train.

Last week, a series of explosions destroyed Russian jets at a Black Sea station on the Crimean coast.

Ukraine has never openly admitted to carrying out the strike, but presidential office adviser Mykhailo Podolyak described the new incident as “demilitarisation in action,” implying that the explosions were not accidental.

The base was utilised by some of Russia’s military helicopters, according to a Ukrainian air force command spokeswoman, but the blasts were caused by Russia’s failure to follow fire precautions.

Russia provided no details on the type of sabotage used in Tuesday’s strike, but the FSB security service said Ukrainian saboteurs had also blown up six electricity pylons within Russia this month.

The attacks in the Kurchatov area, approximately 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Ukraine’s north-east border, had a negative impact on the “technical process of operation” of the Kursk nuclear power station, it claimed.

The explosions in northern Crimea on Tuesday occurred at a temporary ammunition storage site on a base near the hamlet of Maiske about 06:15 Moscow time, according to Russia’s defence ministry (03:15 GMT). Refat Chubarov, a Crimean Tatar chieftain, described the blasts as a “hit” that could be heard “far across the steppe.”

The Moscow defence ministry said there were no “major” casualties, but Russian-appointed regional head Sergei Aksyonov inspected the location and reported 2,000 people had been relocated from a nearby village and two people had been injured.

“One man has a shrapnel wound and one was crushed by a wall. Their lives are not in danger, fortunately,” he said.

In early 2014, Russia grabbed Crimea from Ukraine and annexed it. When Russian forces launched a second invasion in February, they exploited their peninsula bases to seize significant swaths of southern Ukraine.

Russia has occupied two southern regions in particular, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and Ukraine has pledged to mount a counter-offensive to reclaim areas under Russian control.

Following the attack on the Russian air station at Saky on Tuesday, satellite photographs revealed severe damage, with at least eight jets destroyed. Although Russia claimed the incident was similarly an accident, the precise nature of the wreckage left little question that the base had been attacked by Ukraine.

The Russian navy’s Black Sea fleet’s aviation capability had been “seriously reduced,” according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

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