Skip to main content

1 Killed After Blasts Rock Russian Air Base In Annexed Crimea

1 Killed After Blasts Rock Russian Air Base In Annexed Crimea

Ukraine War: Russia denied any attack on its air base in annexed Crimea.

London:

One person was killed on Tuesday when a Russian air base near seaside resorts in the annexed Crimean peninsula was rocked by a series of blasts that Moscow said were detonations of stored ammunition, not the result of any attack.

Local witnesses said they had heard at least 12 explosions around 3:20 p.m. local time (1220 GMT) from the Saky air base near Novofedorivka on the west coast of the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 and used in February as one of the launchpads for its invasion of Ukraine.

Crimea, a holiday destination for many Russians, has so far been spared the intense bombardment and artillery combat that other areas of eastern and southern Ukraine have suffered since Russian forces entered the country.

Russia's defence ministry was adamant that the "detonation of several aviation ammunition stores" had caused an explosion, and said initially that no one had been harmed. It said there had been no attack and no aviation equipment had been damaged.

Russia's main news agencies quoted an unnamed ministry source as saying that "only a violation of fire safety requirements is considered as the main reason for the explosion of several ammunition stores at the Saky airfield".

"There are no signs, evidence or, even less, facts (to indicate) a deliberate impact on ammunition stores," the source was quoted as saying.

Crimea's health department said one civilian had been killed. It said another person had been admitted to hospital with moderate injuries and five had been treated for minor wounds.

FIRE SAFETY

Ukraine issued a statement in a heavily suggestive tone reminiscent of its response to unexplained blasts on Russian territory during the conflict.

"The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine cannot determine the cause of the fire, but once again draws attention to fire safety rules and the ban on smoking in uncertified places," it said.

"We can't rule out that the occupiers will 'accidentally' find some characteristic 'insignia', 'visiting card' or even 'DNA'."

Moscow could accuse Kyiv of crossing a red line if Ukraine were to acknowledge it had attacked territory that Russia sees as its own.

The Russian governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said a five-kilometre (three-mile) exclusion zone had been established around the air base.

The base is close to the seaside resorts of Novofedorivka and Saky, but the Russian tour operators' association said they did not appear to have been affected.

However, one local witness told Reuters there was an official roadblock on the main road out of Novofedorivka, which leads in the direction of the base.

Numerous videos taken from beaches were posted on social media, showing huge plumes of smoke in the distance.

Novofedorivka and Saky are around 50 km (30 miles) north of the port of Sevastopol, home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which Moscow leased from Kyiv for decades before seizing and annexing the entire peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, in a move not recognised by most other countries.

On July 31, an official in Crimea accused Ukraine of injuring five people in a drone attack in Sevastopol. Kyiv did not comment.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Adblock test (Why?)



from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/dmo6jcz https://ift.tt/jZHPMUh
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Defense Chief Austin To Make 'Full Recovery' From Cancer: Doctors

Austin, a 70-year-old career soldier, initially underwent minor surgery to treat cancer on December 22. Washington: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is likely to make a "full recovery" from prostate cancer and his prognosis is "excellent," two doctors said after he was seen at Walter Reed hospital for a follow-up appointment. Austin controversially kept US President Joe Biden in the dark about the cancer diagnosis for weeks, and did not inform either the commander-in-chief or Congress until days after he was hospitalized on January 1 for complications from his treatment. "Secretary Austin was seen today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a scheduled post-prostatectomy surveillance appointment," the doctors said in a statement released by the Pentagon. "He continues to recover well and is expected to make a full recovery. Secretary Austin's prostate cancer was treated early and effectively, and his prognosis is excellent,...

Republic Day Updates: Macron Chief Guest As Delhi Hosts Parade Amid Dense Fog

Adblock test (Why?) from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/yqj8XDV https://ift.tt/zHpGab4 via IFTTT

North Korea Says It Tested New Strategic Cruise Missile

North Korea test-fired a new generation of strategic cruise missile on Wednesday. (Representational) Seoul: North Korea fired several cruise missiles towards the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, Seoul's military said, the latest in a series of tension-raising moves by the nuclear-armed state. Hours later, North Korea appeared to confirm the firing, saying it had carried out its first test of a new generation of strategic cruise missiles it is developing, the Pulhwasal-3-31. Pyongyang has accelerated weapons testing in the new year, including tests of what it called an "underwater nuclear weapon system" and a solid-fuelled hypersonic ballistic missile. "Our military detected several cruise missiles launched by North Korea towards the Yellow Sea at around 7:00 am today," the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Unlike their ballistic counterparts, the testing of cruise missiles is not banned under current UN sanctions against Pyongyang. Cruise...