Russian Defence Ministry brands explosions at ammo depot in Crimea ‘an act of sabotage’

The Russian Defence Ministry has deemed the explosions at an ammo depot in the Dzhankoi district of Crimea “an act of sabotage”, Russian state news agency TASS reports, citing the ministry.

“On the morning of August 16, as a result of an act of sabotage, a military warehouse near Dzhankoi was damaged,” the ministry stated.

According to the Russian defence officials, a number of civilian facilities, including power lines, a power plant, railway tracks, and several residential buildings, were damaged.

Earlier, the ministry stated that a fire had broken out “on the territory of the banked site for temporary storage of ammunition at a military unit” in the village of Maiske in the Dzhankoi district of Crimea. Video footage of a major fire appeared on social media.

Head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov also reported that explosions were taking place at the depot, adding that two people were injured. He noted that a three-mile zone has been cordoned off around the site of the incident and people are being evacuated. A total of 3,000 people have been evacuated so far, the head of Crimea said.

The Russian Ministry of Energy reports that a fire at a transformer station in northern Crimea has been contained. Sources in the emergency services told TASS that railway tracks in the Dzhankoi district of Crimea had been damaged following the explosion. Aksyonov later stated that the tracks had been repaired.