A series of explosions at a Russian air force base on the strategically pivotal peninsula of Crimea triggered an evacuation, Russian officials said, fraying nerves as Ukraine presses on with a counteroffensive aimed at liberating the south of the country from Russian control.
The blasts were caused by exploding air-force ammunition but there was no shelling of any kind aimed at the base, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. Aircraft stationed there were undamaged and there had been no injuries, the ministry said.
The explosions bring the nearly six-month war closer to home for Russians who have largely experienced the war as an intervention on Ukrainian territory. An overwhelming majority of Russians supported the country’s seizure of the peninsula in 2014, and it became a popular tourist destination.
Ukrainians greeted the explosions, regardless of their cause, as a sign that Crimea, which Kyiv wants back, was in play after eight years in which they could do little about its loss.
The explosions took place shortly after 3 p.m. at the Novofedorivka air force base on the Black Sea coast, which borders a popular tourist resort, the ministry said.
Explosions could be heard around the area for around an hour on Tuesday afternoon, eyewitnesses told Russian state media.
Footage circulated on social media appeared to show explosions followed by thick columns of smoke billowing from the site, which also includes ammunition and fuel depots of what is one of the largest Russian military installations in the region. Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula—the longtime home of its Black Sea fleet—in 2014, when it also fomented a breakaway movement of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The location, long a source of Russian power, enables Moscow to control much of the Black Sea and access to the Ukrainian coast.
…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at WSJ.com: World News…