Live: Large explosions rock Russian military air base in Crimea

Issued on: 10/08/2022 – 06:50

2:18am: One killed in blasts at Russian air base in Crimea

Local authorities said one person was killed on Tuesday in blasts at a Russian air base in the annexed Crimean peninsula. Moscow said the explosions were detonations of stored ammunition, not the result of any attack.

Witnesses said they had heard at least 12 explosions around 3:20 p.m. local time (1220 GMT) on Tuesday from the Saky air base near Novofedorivka on the west coast of the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 and used in February as one of the launchpads for its invasion.

1:05am: Russia says Crimea airbase blast was ammo detonation, not attack

Moscow insisted Tuesday that major blasts at a key military airbase on the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula were caused by exploding ammunition rather than Ukrainian fire.

Dramatic amateur footage shared on social media appeared to show panicked holidaymakers fleeing a Crimean beach with young children, as ballooning clouds of grey smoke rose over the horizon.

The blasts rocked the Saki airfield on the 167^th day of Moscow’s invasion.

12:44am: Zelensky aide: Ukraine not responsible for Crimea blasts

Ukraine is not taking responsibility for explosions at a Russian air base in Crimea on Tuesday, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky said, suggesting partisans might have been involved.

Mykhailo Podolyak, asked by the Dozhd online television channel whether Kyiv was taking responsibility, replied: “Of course not. What do we have to do with this?”

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)