A bomb exploded and caught fire at a Russian weapons depot on the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula of Ukraine on Tuesday.
Although Russia has blamed the bombings on a plot, Ukraine, which is believed to be responsible for last week’s blasts at a Russian air base in Crimea, is also suspected of having carried out the explosions at the weapons depot.
The Associated Press reported:
Bombs suddenly exploded at a Russian weapons depot in Crimea’s Myskoyo region on Tuesday. After that a fire broke out in the warehouse.
Following that, more than 3 thousand people were evacuated from that area to safer areas.
A statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense stated:
A bomb blast has taken place due to the conspiracies of some people in the arms depot in Myskoyo area. A power plant in the area was damaged in the incident. Power lines, railway lines and some residential buildings were also damaged in the blast.
However, no one was seriously injured, the ministry said.
Earlier, Russian state news agency RIA reported that several trains to the area were canceled due to damage to railway tracks in the blast.
Meanwhile, another Russian airbase in Crimea, Khvardeyskoye, also reported smoke billowing from the area on Tuesday, Russian news outlet Komsant reported.
In 2014, Western supporters engaged in intense protests against President Viktor Yanukovych, who ruled Ukraine. After that, his regime was overthrown.
Subsequently, Russian-backed militias fought against government forces in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region and seized large swaths of territory. Then Russia also invaded Crimea and annexed the peninsula.
In this context, Russia invaded the country on February 24 last year, protesting Ukraine’s joining NATO. As part of that war, Russia has been making little progress in the Donbass region with offensive operations to capture what remains of government forces.
In addition, Russia has been seizing areas in between to establish a land link between Crimea and the Donbas region.
In this context, several bombs exploded in succession last week at the Sagi Air Base in Crimea near the Black Sea.
Officials said that one person died and 14 were injured.
Ukraine is believed to have carried out the attack with medium-range missiles, but Russia has denied this. Russia claimed that the explosives stored there exploded due to a lack of compliance with security regulations at the air base.
However, Ukraine scoffed at Russia’s explanation despite not directly claiming responsibility for the attack.
In this situation, another Russian military base in the Crimea region has also been bombed.
Already, Russia has repeatedly claimed that there have been bombings and arson incidents at key locations, including its weapons depots and military positions, along the Ukrainian border during the war.
Russia has blamed many of those incidents on attacks by Ukraine.
However, Ukrainian authorities have remained largely silent on the incidents. Similarly, Ukrainian authorities have not publicly commented on the Crimea bombings.
Russia has been insisting that Ukraine recognize its annexed Crimea as part of Russia. However, Ukraine is hinting that it will recover the peninsula from Russia.
In this context, a Ukrainian attack on Crimea would have dire consequences.
Russia has also warned that the decision-making centers on Ukraine’s military operations will not be spared in the retaliatory attack.
In this context, bombs exploded at a Russian air base in Crimea last week and at a weapons depot.