The enormous devastation shown by satellite images certify that the explosions in Crimea were not an accident

Russian military authorities continue to insist that the series of explosions that destroyed Russia’s Saki military airfield in Crimea on Tuesday were caused by accidental detonation of ammunition. However, the enormous devastation shown by satellite images from Planet Labs certify that the explosions at the Russian air base were not a simple accident and suggest that the Ukrainian military may have been able to obtain long-range weapons.

In the photographs you can see the remains of the fuselage of at least eight fighter planes and three craters, which would indicate that there was no initial detonation in a single point from which the fire spread. kyiv, for now, has neither confirmed nor denied that the attack on the Saki airfield, in the town of Novofiódorovka, was the work of its Armed Forces,

According to the Ukrainian presidential adviser, Mijailo Podoliak, “we are neither confirming nor denying anything. There are numerous hypotheses of what could have happened (…) there were several epicenters of explosions at exactly the same time, ”he told Reuters. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army already pointed out yesterday that the Saki base has been used by Russia in air raids against Ukraine. Ukrainian media say Tuesday’s explosions destroyed 17 Su-27, Su-30M and Su-24 fighter planes and one Il-20RT transport, as well as six Mi-8 helicopters. Four ammunition stores were also reportedly destroyed and several buildings damaged.

Officially, there was one death and fifteen wounded, but military sources in kyiv believe that the number of victims, especially among military personnel, had to be much higher judging by the enormous area affected. A nearby beach was deserted of bathers after hearing the deflagrations and seeing the huge columns of smoke that formed. Many vacationers rushed to escape from the peninsula over the Kerch bridge, causing huge traffic jams.

If it really is an attack, it would be the first major one launched against Crimea since the beginning of the current war on February 24. But the fact that the closest point from which the Ukrainian troops could allegedly fire is 200 kilometers away, and the apparent absence of weapons capable of reaching that distance, casts some doubt on the nature of what really happened in Saki.

Change in the dynamics of war

However, since early June, Ukrainian troops have been attacking Russian supply lines with HIMARS and M270 rocket launchers, changing the dynamics of the war. Russia is being forced to defend its bases not only in the frontline areas, but also in the deeper rear.

Another element that would indicate that it was not an accident that devastated the airfield was the fact that the Crimean authorities declared a state of emergency throughout the peninsula on Wednesday. The pro-Russian leader of the local government, Sergei Aksionov, assured that 252 people had to be evacuated from Novofiódorovka.

According to Aksiónov, the explosions caused damage to more than 60 residential buildings, twenty commercial establishments and caused all the vehicles parked in the base’s parking lot to be burned. The spokesman for the Ukrainian Army, Yuri Ignat, told the UNIAN agency on Wednesday that what happened in Novofiódorovka “will cause the Russian Black Sea and Caspian fleets to see their offensive capabilities partially diminished.”

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, believes that Russia “has turned Crimea into one of the most dangerous places in Europe.” In his opinion, since the peninsula was annexed by Russia in March 2014, Moscow “has brought large-scale repression, environmental problems, economic despair and war. Perhaps one day historians will determine how many people have died as a result of Russia’s use of Crimea for terror (…) as long as it remains occupied by Russia, there will be no security in the Black Sea region,” he stressed.