An ammunition depot in Russia-controlled Crimea was hit by series of explosions on Tuesday, in which two people got injured. The railway line between the peninsula and the rest of southern Ukraine and Russia also got disrupted.
According to Russia’s RIA news agency, seven passenger trains had been delayed and that rail traffic on part of the line in northern Crimea had been suspended
The Russian defence ministry said the fire broke out at a temporary ammunition storage site near Maiske village around 06.15 Moscow time (03:15 GMT) and added that the cause was being investigated.
The ministry further said that no “serious” casualties have been reported, but a Russian-appointed official said two people had been wounded, reports Reuters news agency.
The cause of the the blasts is unclear, but local media reported that the Russian warplanes were destroyed last week in the Ukrainian attack on the Crimean coast.
The Ukrainian presidential office adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, posted a cryptic tweet describing the incident as “demilitarisation in action”, while hinting that the explosions were part of a targetted attack.
“(The) morning near Dzhankoi began with explosions,” wrote Podolyak.
A Tatar leader from Crimea, Refat Chubarov, also called the explosions as a “hit” that could be heard “far across the steppe”.
Russia had annexed Crimea, an Ukrainian territory, in 2014. And while launching “military action” against Kyiv early February this year, the Russian forces used the region to capture large swathes of southern Ukraine.
(With inputs from agencies)
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