Russia blames sabotage as blasts rock another military facility in Crimea

By Uliana Pavlova, Alex Stambaugh, Fred Pleitgen, Vasco Cotovio and Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN

A blast at an ammunition depot in the village of Maiskoye in Crimea injured at least two people, local authorities said Tuesday, in the second incident in a week to rock the Russian-controlled peninsula.

Russia’s ministry of defense has blamed sabotage for the Tuesday morning explosions and damage to the military facility in the Dzhankoi area of northern Crimea, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Around 2,000 residents in the area were evacuated, Russian state media RIA Novosti reported, and train services from Russia into Crimea were suspended.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the incident, but Mykhaylo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential adviser, tweeted that: “Crimea occupied by Russians is about warehouses explosions and high risk of death for invaders and thieves. Demilitarization in action.”

Last Tuesday, a series of explosions damaged at least eight aircraft and infrastructure at a Russian military air base in Novofedorivka, on Crimea’s west coast.

The Russian defense ministry statement did not clarify how much military equipment and ammunition may have been destroyed in the latest incident. Footage of the facility posted on social media last week showed large ammunition stacks and several military vehicles with “Z” markings, a Russian pro-war symbol.

The explosions at the depot were caused by a fire, the head of the Crimea administration Sergei Aksyonov said in his Telegram channel, citing the Russian ministry of defense, adding the detonations were still ongoing.

“The evacuation of residents is underway, people are taken out of the five-kilometer zone from the incident to ensure safety,” Aksyonov said, adding that defense ministry officials, military service members and emergency services are involved.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Podolyak later said a nearby substation that was being used to divert power from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant had also affected by explosions at the depot.

“You must understand that they stole from the Zaporizhzhia NPP in order to send electricity to Crimea through Dzhankoi,” Podolyak said later in a televised interview. “I think and believe that this is karmic retribution. Everything that is stolen does not bring wealth.”

CNN could not independently verify Podolyak’s claim that power from the Zaporizhzhia station was being diverted to Crimea via Dzhankoi. The plant, the largest nuclear complex of its kind in Europe, is located in southern Ukraine and was captured by Russian forces in the early days of the invasion. In recent days it has become the focal point of growing global concern over the potential for a nuclear disaster, after increased shelling triggered calls for international experts to visit the facility.

The explosion at Maiskoye is the second security incident at a military installation in Crimea in the past week.

Last Tuesday, the blasts at the Novofedorivka Russian air base destroyed at least eight Russian military aircraft, satellite imagery reviewed by CNN showed. The explosions also killed one person and injured 14, according to the Crimean health ministry.

The Russian defense ministry said that incident was caused by the accidental detonation of ammunition. Ukraine did not publicly claim responsibility for the incident.

Podolyak said Moscow’s explanations for the Tuesday blasts, as well as of the explosions last week, suggested the Russian military was deploying “untrained” staff to some locations.

In his nightly video message on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Ukrainians living in occupied areas to stay clear of Russian forces’ military facilities.

“I am asking now all our people in Crimea, in other areas, in the south of the country, in the occupied areas of Donbas and Kharkiv region to be very careful,” he said. “Please do not go near the military facilities of the Russian army and all those places where they store ammunition and equipment, where they keep their headquarters.”

Following the explosion in Maiskoye, train services from Russia into Crimea were suspended across most of the occupied peninsula.

Aksyonov, the head of the Crimea administration, later said on Telegram that “damaged railroad tracks in the Dzhankoi area have been restored.”

“Train traffic on this section will be resumed after the completion of all necessary safety measures,” he added.

Dzhankoi sits on a train line connecting Crimea to Melitopol. According to several Ukrainian officials, the line is regularly used to transport military equipment to the front lines.

Referring to long queues of traffic seen leaving Crimea for Russia after last week’s attack, Zelesnky said on Tuesday: “The queue these days to leave Crimea for Russia via the bridge proves that the absolute majority of citizens of the terrorist state already understand or at least feel that Crimea is not a place for them. “

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CNN’s Tim Lister, Yulia Kesaieva and Petro Zadorozhnyy also contributed to this report.