Two Russian online media, Mash and Baza, reported on Wednesday morning (April 19) that detonations were heard in Kirovski district, Crimea, just before a fire broke out and authorities decided to evacuate the area. The disaster occurred on military ground, said the local Russian governor, adding that more than 2,000 civilians had to be evacuated. Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin is being kept “informed” of developments, the Kremlin said.
“Temporary evacuation of residents of four localities adjacent to the military ground in the Kirovski district is planned. It’s more than 2,000 people,” Governor Sergei Aksionov said on Telegram. He added that a section of highway linking the port of Kerch, in eastern Crimea, to Sevastopol in the southwest had to be closed because of the fire.
According to the Mash media, an ammunition depot is on fire. The Izvestia newspaper’s Telegram account posted images of the fire, showing plumes of black smoke rising into the sky.
The Russian authorities, in particular the army, have not confirmed the explosion of ammunition, nor evoked for the time being possible causes of the fire. All the competent services are hard at work and a coordination center has been set up, indicated Sergueï Aksionov. The Ukrainian military intelligence service, the GUR, for its part denied a claim presented on Telegram as coming from its chief, Kyrylo Budanov.
GUR spokesman Andriy Yusov told Ukrainian state media Suspilne that “the comment, allegedly on behalf of Kyrylo Budanov, that the explosion at the training ground in Crimea was the work of the armed forces and the GUR is a fake.”
