The Russian ministry of defense is attributing another significant series of explosions at a Russian ammunition depot in Mayskoye, Crimea to “sabotage”. It is the second explosion at an occupied base there in a week.
Moscow’s defense ministry said the explosions severely damaged power plants, power lines, railroad tracks, and apartment buildings, yet there were no detrimental injuries.
Last Tuesday, a series of explosions destroyed a Russian Saky airbase in Western Crimea. According to multiple sources, seven or eight aircrafts were obliterated, but there has not been any confirmation that Ukraine is responsible for those strikes.
The Moscow-backed Crimea governor Sergei Aksyonov said at least two people were injured, and 2,000 or more were evacuated after the August 16th explosions.
Sean Bell, a retired military air vice spoke to BBC news and from his expert perspective, “Crimea is clearly where Russians are providing military lines of communication up into the conflict in southern Ukraine, so it’s evidently a keen target for the Ukrainians. It could have been the western weapons that we’ve been supplying although it’s quite a long way for those to reach. It could have been a special forces mission, it could have been drones, it could have been sabotage. The one thing it certainly is not is an accident.”
Though Ukrainian officials have not taken responsibility for today’s attacks, President Zelensky’s political advisor Mykhailo Podolyak described the incident as “dematerialization in action,” implying that the recent events were not accidental. In contrast to Podolyak’s statement, a Ukrainian air force command spokesperson said the blasts were consequences of Russia failing to abide by fire precautions.
Prior to alluding the explosions to sabotage, Russian officials also said the combustions were a result of fire outbreaks.
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, and has used the geographically advantageous location to carry out military operations against Ukraine from the southern border, and capture much of southern Ukraine.
Ukraine is committed to launching a counter offensive operation to recapture the southern stretch of Russian occupation on the border. Areas like Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are the main targets. According to Ukraine’s defense minister, their military has hit as many as 50 arms depots with rocket missiles, as well as bridges and rail tracks, impeding Russia’s weaponry supply lines from Crimea to Kherson, and other Russian occupied locations.
Moscow believes the recent attacks were drone related, not missiles.
Whether Ukrainian military personnel have infiltrated Russian bases is unknown, though there’s a high possibility. Recapturing the southern border of Ukraine and Crimea will be a significant turning point in the war.