Again, blast rocks ammo depot in Russia-occupied Crimea

An ammunition depot exploded in Crimea on Tuesday morning, triggering an evacuation, according to an official, in further blasts to rock the peninsula that was occupied by Russian forces.

Videos posted on social media showed a large fire and a cloud of smoke rising from the site of the blast in the northern part of Crimea.

Two people in the Dzhankoi area were injured, according to Crimea’s Russia-appointed leader Sergei Aksyonov.

He said the Russian Defence Ministry would have to comment on the reasons for the detonation.

The explosions are ongoing, Aksyonov said in a video message posted on Telegram.

“An evacuation is underway, a five-kilometre security zone is being formed for the safety of residents,’’ he said.

He said forces from the Ministry of Defence, the National Guard and the Civil Defence were being deployed.

The explosion occurred in the village of Maiskoye, at a former farm that is now being used by Russian forces as an ammunition depot, according to the authorities.

A power supply substation also caught fire, they said.

The latest blast came a week after powerful explosions tore through the Saki military airfield in Crimea, with one person killed and 14 injured.

That blast considerably weakened the naval aviation of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, according to a recent assessment by the British Ministry of Defence.

Analysts have said that Ukraine struck the base, with several fighter jets destroyed in the blast, although Kiev has not officially confirmed the attack.

Moscow however attributed last week’s attack to a fire safety violation.

A Ukrainian drone struck the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the port city of Sevastopol, also in Crimea, on July 31, according to the authorities, also causing casualties.

As the war continues, Ukrainian fighters were seeking to prevent Russia from seizing the eastern Donbas region, and also parts of the south of the country that has come under heavy attack.

Kiev also tried to regain control of Crimea, seized by Moscow in 2014