KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The world’s attention on the war in Ukraine turned again Tuesday to Russian-annexed Crimea, where two separate fires, including one with massive explosions, injured at least two people and forced the evacuation of about 2,000 residents.
The second incident in a week in Crimea raised more questions about whether Ukrainian forces were able to strike the peninsula. Videos posted on social media showed thick plumes of smoke rising above the raging flames, while a series of multiple explosions could be heard in the background.
“Russian-occupied Crimea is associated with warehouse explosions and a high risk of death for invaders and thieves,” said a cryptic tweet from Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, which did not claim any responsibility from Ukraine for the incident.
The fire and explosions rocked the village of Maiskoye in the Jankoy region of Crimea early Tuesday, Russian media also reported.
Another morning incident was reported in Dzhankoy itself – according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, a transformer substation was on fire after a “strong impact”. The Russian Ministry of Energy announced shortly afterwards that the fire at the substation had been contained.
It is not yet clear whether the fire at the substation and the fire at the ammunition depot are related.
Kyiv certainly reinforced the message of chaos.
“The morning near Jankoi started with explosions. Reminder: The Crimea of a normal state is about the Black Sea, mountains, recreation and tourism,” Podoliak wrote, referring to the time before Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014.
The Russian Defense Ministry said a fire broke out at a “temporary ammunition storage site of one of the military units”.
“As a result of the fire, the stored ammunition detonated,” the ministry said, adding that it was unclear what caused the fire.
The Dzhankoy region of Crimea is in the northern part of the peninsula, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Russian-controlled Kherson region in southern Ukraine. Kyiv has recently mounted a series of attacks on various sites in the region, targeting supply routes for the Russian military there and ammunition depots.
Crimea’s Russian-appointed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, said two people were injured in the latest incident and that local residents were being evacuated from the area as ammunition explosions continued.
Aksyonov said some residential buildings were damaged near the site of the fire, and about 2,000 people were evacuated from nearby areas. According to Russian media, railway lines passing through Maiskoye were also damaged.
Aksyonov said all trains would be stopped in the town of Vladislavivka, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Maiskoye, and passengers would be able to continue their journey by buses.
Last week, a series of explosions went off at the Saki airbase near the village of Novofeodorovka in Crimea. The Russian military blamed the blasts on the accidental detonation of munitions there, but the incident appeared to be the result of a Ukrainian attack. Kyiv said the explosions destroyed nine Russian planes.
Ukrainian officials at the time did not publicly claim responsibility for the explosions, while scoffing at Russia’s explanation that a careless smoker may have caused munitions to ignite and explode at the Saki air base. Analysts also said the explanation made no sense and that the Ukrainians may have used anti-ship missiles to hit the base.
The Crimean peninsula is of great strategic and symbolic importance to both countries. The Kremlin’s demand that Ukraine recognize Crimea as part of Russia was one of the key conditions for an end to the fighting, while Ukraine promised to expel the Russians from the peninsula and all other occupied territories.
And an intelligence update from Britain’s Ministry of Defense claims that in the waters off Crimea, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet’s surface vessels “continue to pursue an extremely defensive posture,” with the boats barely daring to come out of sight of the coastline.
Russia has already lost its flagship, the Moskva, in the Black Sea, and last month the Ukrainian military retook the strategic outpost of Snake Island off Ukraine’s southwestern coast, vital to securing sea routes from Odessa, Ukraine’s largest port.
“The limited effectiveness of the Russian navy undermines Russia’s overall invasion strategy,” the British statement said. “This means Ukraine can divert resources to pressure Russian ground forces elsewhere.”
Ukraine’s Donetsk region governor, Pavlo Kirilenko, said on Tuesday that one civilian was killed in the region in the latest Russian shelling and two others were wounded.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, one civilian was killed and nine others wounded by Russian shelling, Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said. He added that the night attack on the city was “one of the largest shelling of Kharkiv in recent days.”
Officials in the central region of Dniprotpetrovsk also reported shelling in the Nikopol and Kryvyi Rih regions.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine