Crimean authorities have shut down a major highway and ordered the evacuation of four settlements in the immediate vicinity of an ammunition depot in the east of the peninsula, which “caught fire” on Wednesday morning.
Crimean leader Sergey Aksyonov announced the plan to “temporarily evacuate residents of four settlements” at around 7:15am local time, shortly after announcing that a segment of the Tavrida highway was closed due to major blaze at a nearby military range.
Later in the day he reported that the evacuation order affected some 2,200 people, who will be provided all necessary assistance. Nobody was hurt in the incident, the official added.
The Crimean leader said the cause was yet to be determined by investigators. Meanwhile Kiev has claimed credit for the incident.
Kirill Budanov, Ukraine’s chief of military intelligence, said the fire was the result of a joint operation by his department and the regular Ukrainian military. He thanked “Ukrainian patriots” in the Russian region for “additional intelligence and footage” from the scene.
Several popular Telegram channels have shared videos purportedly showing the fire.
The incident comes a day after the Russian military reportedly intercepted at least 28 Ukrainian drones targeting multiple locations across the peninsula on Tuesday morning.
On Monday, Kiev used two unmanned maritime surface drones to strike the Crimean Bridge. Moscow condemned the incident as a terrorist attack, saying two civilians were killed and one child injured. Tavrida is a major 250-kilometer highway which continues from the bridge into the peninsula itself.
Source: RT
