A massive fireball was filmed rising out of a Russian air base in Crimea. At least 12 explosions hit Russia's Saky naval airbase in the annexed region on Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that the war started with the invasion of Crimea and will end only after the liberation of Crimea.
Footage that appeared online shows a major explosion at the airfield. Huge plumes of smoke were filmed rising above the sky.
Multiple Explosions Were Reported At Russian Black Sea Fleet's Saki Air Base
Oleg Kryuchkov, an aide to the Moscow-installed head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov, stated that "I can confirm the fact of several explosions in the area of Novofyodorovka."
"I ask everyone to wait for the official information and not to spread [fake] explanations," said Kryuchkov, according to The Moscow Times.
Witnesses who were close to the blast site revealed that they saw a huge plume of black smoke rising from the direction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's Saki air base and beach-goers fleeing in the nearby resort town Novofyodorovka.
Videos Show Russians Leaving Crimea
After the explosions, videos that appeared on social media show traffic jams on highways in Crimea as Russians were terrified after the blasts and were leaving the annexed region in hurry.
"Really don't want to leave Crimea. It's so cool here. I'm used to it. It's like we were at home here. Everything is so soulful, homey," said a Russian who was leaving Crimea.
Russia Claims Explosions Were Caused By A "Fire Safety Violation"
The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that no-one fired on the Saky airfield in Crimea, but that, for some reason, there was a detonation of ammunition. Later on, a source in the Russian Ministry of Defence told revealed that the explosions were caused by a "fire safety violation", according to Ukrainian Pravda.
Ukraine has officially denied its involvement in the incident but citing a senior Ukrainian military official with knowledge of the situation, The New York Times reported that Ukrainian forces were behind the blast at the air base.
Zelensky believes that the Black Sea region cannot be safe as long as Crimea is occupied and there will be no stable and lasting peace in many countries on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as long as Russia is able to use our peninsula as its military base.
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