Two new powerful explosions hit Russia-occupied Crimea on August 16 after the explosion in the Saky airbase on August 9.
Explosions happened in the Dzhankoi (Dzhankoy) district of Crimea and in the village of Hvardiyske in the Simferopol district.
Multiple videos from social networks show Russian ammunition detonating. Crimean Tatar leader Refat Chubarov informed that a Russian ammunition depot was hit in Azovske village and there is a detonation.
Also, black smoke stood over another military air base in Crimea in the village of Hvardiyske in the Simferopol district. The airbase is on fire after several explosions, Kommersant wrote, referring to locals. Reportedly, 12 Russian SU-24M and 12 SU-25SM aircraft were stationed at this airbase before the strike, Bellingcat researcher Christo Grozev noted.
Ukraine’s Presidential Office hinted that Ukraine was behind the explosions in Crimea while Russia says it was sabotage.
About 2,000 people were evacuated from Crimea villages after explosions this morning. Russian occupiers began evacuating people from the 5-kilometer zone near the ammunition warehouse near Dzhankoi after it was hit, self-proclaimed “Prime Minister” of Russia-occupied Crimea wrote.
“A senior Ukrainian official said that an elite military unit was responsible for the latest attack,” New York Times claimed, thus denying speculations that Ukraine might have received some long-range weapons capable of reaching Crimea. However, we couldn’t verify this claim, and the nature of these strikes remains debated.
The US said in its official statement it doesn’t know what weapons Ukraine might have used to strike Russian bases 200-300 kilometers behind the frontline.