The explosions at a military airfield on Russia’s Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, have been blamed by Moscow as the cause of the accident, but experts and satellite imagery appear to reveal the result of a Ukrainian attack. 20 Minutes takes stock of this new major episode in the Russia-Ukraine war, while each side has been providing their little version of the facts for the past week.
What happened in Crimea on Tuesday?
One person was killed and injured in explosions on Tuesday at an ammunition depot at a military airfield on Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. Videos posted on social media showed a fireball forming after a loud explosion, while plumes of thick black smoke billowed into the sky.
When asked about the issue, the British Defense Secretary said he had no comments on the incident in question, but recalled Ukraine’s right to defend its territory. “If it were an attack by Ukraine, it would be legitimate, it would be in accordance with international law,” Ben Wallace said.
What say Moscow and Kyiv?
Since Tuesday, Russia has assured that no attack or shelling has hit a military base near the village of Novofedorovka and that the explosions, which left at least one dead and seven injured, were caused by the explosion of aviation munitions. However, the explosions in Crimea have caused a wave of panic among tourists, as the peninsula is a key summer destination for Russians, prized for its beaches and mountains. Videos circulating on social media on Tuesday showed the Kerch Strait bridge, built at great expense by Moscow to connect Crimea to mainland Russia, being taken over by cars preparing to leave.
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On other picturesHundreds of tourists can be seen fleeing on a beach while large clouds of smoke appear on the horizon. The head of Crimea’s pro-Russian administration, Sergei Aksionov, tried to reassure visitors in a video message, assuring that “all necessary measures have been strengthened to ensure the security of civilian infrastructure and the population”.
What do the experts say?
However, satellite images released by Maxar Technologies on Thursday appear to contradict this version. These showed that the airfield was “hit by something” and at least nine aircraft were destroyed, Oliver Alexander told the AFP news agency on Thursday.
“If it had been an accident, four or five people would have thrown their cigarettes in the same place or hit the bombs with a hammer, that’s very unlikely,” added the Danish analyst. However, the exact cause of the explosions – an act of sabotage or a Ukrainian rocket attack – is unknown, the expert further specified.
Eliot Higgins, founder of investigative journalist group Bellingcat, points out that the images show three craters and “a massive fire over the base.” “These craters can be interpreted as the result of precise hits from a long-range weapon,” he writes. on twitter. And to continue: “To my knowledge, Russia has never lost so much air equipment in a single day, and they must be very concerned about Ukraine’s ability to carry out similar attacks elsewhere, particularly on the Kerch Strait Bridge,” the was built large expenses of Moscow to connect the Crimea with the Russian mainland.
What does Ukraine say?
Unnamed Ukrainian officials, quoted by the New York Times and Washington Post, acknowledged that Ukraine was behind the blasts. Officially, Kyiv took no responsibility for the attack, preferring to be ironic. Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov joked that the explosions could be caused by poorly extinguished cigarettes: “I think the Russian military at this airfield forgot a very simple rule: do not smoke in dangerous places. That’s all,” he said on Wednesday.
Presidency adviser Mykhaïlo Podoliak joked about the “epidemic of technical accidents at Russian military airfields”. He claimed the blasts “should be taken as a warning by the Russian military”. The day before he had assured that they were “just the beginning”. For his part, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening speech after the explosions simply: “Crimea is Ukrainian” and Kyiv “will never give it up”.
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Finally, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, for its part, only reminded on Twitter that “the presence of occupying forces on the territory of the Ukrainian Crimea is not compatible with the high tourist season”.
Why is Crimea a strategic destination?
Russia unilaterally annexed Crimea in March 2014 after its special forces intervened in the Ukrainian peninsula, quickly taking control of administrative buildings and surrounding Ukrainian bases. The new pro-Russian authorities installed by Moscow then organized a referendum on joining Russia, denounced as illegal by Kyiv and the West, and provoked a first wave of sanctions.
Since invading Ukraine on February 24, Crimea has spearheaded Russia’s military offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor. It serves as a logistics base for the Russian Armed Forces. Planes from Moscow take off there almost daily to attack targets in areas under Kyiv control, and several areas of this peninsula are within range of Ukrainian weapons and drones. It was from there that the offensive on southern Ukraine began, which allowed Moscow to seize large areas in the first weeks of the war. Although rarely targeted, a previous drone strike had hit the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol on July 31, according to Moscow.