Rob Lee Twitter
Questions have been raised about the Kremlin’s version of events after several massive explosions were seen erupting from a Russian military airbase in Crimea on Tuesday.
Videos of the blasts at the Saki base on the Russian-controlled peninsula were shared on social media. In a statement, the Russian defense ministry said the explosions had been caused as a result of aviation munitions detonating, though no explanation was given as to what had caused the ordnance to explode. They also claimed that there were no casualties as a result of the explosions, nor was there any damage to aviation hardware at the site. “Measures are being taken to extinguish the fire and find out the causes of the explosion,” the ministry added, Russian state media reported. “According to a report from the site, there was no fire impact on the bunded ammunition storage area at the airfield.”
Despite the Kremlin’s denials, a contradictory narrative quickly emerged. An unnamed Ukrainian military official told the New York Times that Ukrainian forces were indeed behind the blasts. “This was an air base from which planes regularly took off for attacks against our forces in the southern theater,” the source said, adding that a “device exclusively of Ukrainian manufacture was used” in the attack.