Update(1617ET): There are breaking unconfirmed reports that another Russian airfield near Crimea’s Sevastopol naval base is under attack. According to Reuters Belbek air base may have come under attack:
- AT LEAST FOUR EXPLOSIONS ROCK CITY OF SEVASTOPOL IN RUSSIAN-ANNEXED CRIMEA – LOCAL SOURCES
- CRIMEAN SOURCES SAY BLASTS TOOK PLACE IN THE VICINITY OF THE BELBEK MILITARY AIRPORT NORTH OF SEVASTOPOL
This comes after reports that Russian anti-air defenses were activated over the region. There are also unconfirmed reports circulating that a Ukrainian drone may have been engaged by Russian defenses.
Loud explosion reported in Kerch, according to occupation authorities air defense system activated https://t.co/4nlXzpfwQT #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/0JgnL3iRby
— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) August 18, 2022
Little is confirmed at this early point, but it follows a string of blasts inside Crimea over the past week, some of which were admitted by the Kremlin to be Ukrainian “sabotage” operations.
To recap, reports of the Sevastopol blasts come just after an ammo depot was reported on fire within Russia’s Belgorod Oblast near the Ukrainian border.
Reported events tonight:
• Explosions at munitions depot, Timonovo, Belgorod
• Fire/explosions at Stary Oskol Airfield, Belgorod
• Explosions in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson
• Explosions/UAV shot down near Belbek airport, Crimea
• Air defence activity near Kerch strait, Crimea— Jimmy (@JimmySecUK) August 18, 2022
* * *
Russian state media has confirmed another large blaze is engulfing an ammunition depot within its territory on Thursday, with social media videos capturing the incident, following a string of prior blasts, amid growing reports Ukraine is launching ‘sabotage operations’ deep within Russian territory, particularly in Crimea over the past week.
“An ammunition depot in Russia’s Belgorod Region caught fire on Thursday, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said, adding that no casualties had been reported,” according to TASS.
BAZA reports that an ammunition depot is on fire (and detonating) in the Belgorod Oblast of Russia. pic.twitter.com/bTEocYLmAL
— Status-6 (@Archer83Able) August 18, 2022
“The district’s head ordered the residents of the Timonovo and Soloti settlements to be evacuated to a safe distance. Response teams are working on the scene, efforts are underway to establish the cause of the fire,” the governor wrote further on Telegram of ongoing emergency efforts to control the blaze.
The area referenced merely a little over 5 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, where on the other side Russian strikes are pounding away on the major northeast city of Kharkiv. The two Russian villages have a combined population of a little over 1,000 residents.
ABC News recounts of events in Crimea over the past week:
But in recent days, explosions have destroyed several Russian planes at an air base in Crimea, and munitions blew up Tuesday.
Ukrainian authorities have stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alluded to Ukrainian attacks behind enemy lines after the most recent blasts Tuesday while Russia blamed “sabotage.”
People in the Timonova area are reportedly being told to evacuate, as the fire continued into the night hours…
This Russian ammunition warehouse in #Belgorod continues to burn tonight. Smoke plume can be seen for miles.
— The Intel Crab (@IntelCrab) August 18, 2022
Amid speculation that US-supplied weaponry could be used for these longer-range attacks and operations Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov told US state-funded Voice of America this week, “We have an agreement with the US that we will not use weapons provided by the US and partners against the territory of the Russian Federation. But if we discuss de-occupying… Ukrainian land where the enemy is now, there are no such restrictions.”
The Kremlin has stated that such long-range attacks with American weaponry would mark a severe “red line” and that it would hold external powers backing Ukraine responsible.
Meanwhile, it looks like things are continuing to heat up over Crimea, after Ukraine’s President Zelensky earlier this month vowed to “liberate” the Russian-controlled peninsula…
#BREAKING: Russian air defense system activated over Kerch, Crimea, where a bridge was built that connects the Crimean peninsula with Russia pic.twitter.com/ibefRKl3ZA
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) August 18, 2022
via zerohedge
