WEB DESK
A military base in Russian-occupied Crimea has been hit by a series of explosions, reportedly leaving at least two people hurt.
Russian officials said a fire triggered the blasts at an arms dump in the Dzhankoi area in northern Crimea.
A fire was also visible at an electricity substation.
What caused the blasts is unclear, but last week Russian warplanes were destroyed in an apparent Ukrainian attack on the Crimean coast.
Ukrainian presidential office adviser Mykhailo Podolyak described the incident as “demilitarisation in action”, indicating that the explosions were not accidental.
A Crimean Tatar leader, Refat Chubarov, also described the explosions as a “hit” that could be heard “far across the steppe”.
Russia’s defence ministry said the fire broke out at a temporary ammunition storage site near the village of Maiske (or Mayskoye in Russian) at around 06:15 Moscow time (03:15 GMT) and that the cause was being investigated.
Rail services were also disrupted due to damage to the track.
The ministry said there had been no “serious” casualties, but Russian-appointed regional head Sergei Aksyonov visited the site and said 2,000 people had been moved from a nearby village and two people had been wounded.
“One man has a shrapnel wound, and one was crushed by a wall. Their lives are not in danger, fortunately,” he said.
