A spate of fires and explosions has turned
Russian-annexed Crimea from a secure base
for the further invasion of Ukraine into the
latest flashpoint highlighting Moscow's
challenges ahead in a war that is nearing the
half-year mark.
A statement from British defense intelligence
Wednesday that "Russian commanders will
highly likely be increasingly concerned with the
apparent deterioration in security across
Crimea, which functions as rear base area for
the occupation."
Even Russia itself acknowledged it was an
"act
of sabotage" that caused Tuesday's explosions
and fires that ripped through an ammunition
depot near Dzhankoi in once-secure Crimea,
leading to chaotic scenes when around 3,000
people had to be evacuated.
As a vivid reminder of Russia's vulnerability in
Crimea, detonations at the depot near
Dzhankoi were still continuing Wednesday.
A week earlier, Russia's military in Crimea
already came under pressure when Ukraine
said nine Russian warplanes were destroyed
following explosions. At the time, Moscow still
offered the possibility of a wayward cigarette
butt as the cause.
No such explanations would suffice anymore
as the war, which had long centered on brutal
fighting in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region,
has now given southern Crimea increasing
importance.
Worsening the outlook in Crimea was a report
by the Kommersant business paper, that
explosions had also taken place near
Gvardeyskoye in the center of the peninsula.
By Wednesday, there still was no comment
from the Russian authorities.
The British intelligence report said
Gardeyskoye and Dzhankoi
"are home to two
of the most important Russian military airfields
in Crimea."
Ukraine has stopped short of claiming
responsibility for any of the blasts, including
those at another Crimean air base last week.
Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014
and has used it to launch attacks against
Ukraine in the war that began on Feb. 24.
If Ukrainian forces were behind the explosions,
that would represent a significant escalation in
the war. Such attacks could also indicate that
Ukrainian operatives are able to penetrate
deeply into Russian-occupied territory.
On the eastern front, the stalemate between
both sides continued, with the brutality of the
shelling causing ever more death and
destruction.
In the Donetsk region at the forefront of the
Russian offensive, two civilians were killed and
seven others were wounded by recent Russian
shelling of several towns and villages.
Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers fired
cruise missiles at the Odesa region overnight,
leaving four people injured, according to Odesa
regional administration spokesman Oleh
Bratchuk.
In the southern city of Mykolaiv, two Russian
missiles damaged a university building early
Wednesday but injured no one.