Several explosions were heard today at a Russian military airport in occupied Crimea, confirmed Viktoria Kazmirova, the deputy head of the local administration.
The cause is still currently unconfirmed, but the explosions did occur at the Saki base near Novofedorovka. Reports suggest the explosions could be heard for kilometres surrounding the military base.
The head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, confirmed one person had died as a result of the explosion earlier on Tuesday, with five injured.
Kazmirova asked not to speculate about the cause until official reports appear. According to the Russian defence ministry, aircraft munitions exploded and a fire broke out.
Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine in 2014. It has since served as a key strategic military base throughout the invasion, with initial reports suggesting the Ukrainian army were behind the attack.
There is no doubt it was an attack on the base ammunition depot, as about thirty people there were confirmed to have been evacuated. Russia’s Ministry of Defence had initially stated that no one was reportedly injured and there had been no damage to aircraft.
The Russian Tour Operators Association says there were also no casualties or injuries among the tourists at a nearby tourist resort.
