Ukraine’s armed forces have released a video of apparent explosions at an ammunition depot in occupied Crimea.
Blasts can be heard in the night-time clip lasting 55 seconds, which includes the flash of explosions from the “sabotage” which purportedly took place on Friday night.
“Around ten in the evening on July 28, there was a lot of noise in the Cossack (Kozacha) Bay of the temporarily occupied Crimea,” tweeted the account of Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.
The bay is located near Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea and a major port for the Russian Navy.
On its Telegram social media channel, Ukrainian intelligence shared the video, writing that witnesses had heard two explosions and the sounds of further detonation of ammunition. “Several ambulances and police arrived at the scene,” it added.
The post noted how Russia’s 810th separate marine infantry brigade were stationed in the area.
“It is known that the explosions and detonation as a result of the sabotage took place at the ‘temporary warehouse’ of ammunition of the Rashists,” the post added, according to a translation, using Ukrainians’ disparaging term for Russia’s forces. Newsweek has contacted Russia’s defense ministry for comment.
The reported incident follows comments by the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Krylo Budanov, on Ukrainian television that Kyiv’s forces would “soon” recapture Crimea, the peninsula that Russia illegally annexed in 2014.
Its de-occupation is a state war aim for Kyiv and the peninsula has been the site of many explosions in recent months, in which targets such as ammunition depots and aircraft at airports have been targeted.
On Thursday, Russian authorities said there was a “security threat” in a different part of Crimea, and so prohibited civilian access to the Arabat Spit at the eastern end of the peninsula which connects it with mainland Ukraine.
On July 17, the Kerch Bridge linking Crimea with Russia’s Krasnodar region was hit with explosions in an incident that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv.
Ukraine has not admitted responsibility but its Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told CNN it was a legitimate military target and that “attacks on the bridge will go on.”
On June 22, bridges across the Chonhar Strait between northern Crimea and Ukraine’s mainland were also damaged following strikes which Kyiv later confirmed it had carried out using Storm Shadow missiles.
Ukraine also admitted it was behind last October’s strike on the Kerch Bridge which, as well as being a key supply link for Russian military personnel, is seen as a symbol of Moscow’s occupation.
