A fire has broken out at a military training ground in the Kirovsky district in occupied Crimea, located approximately 240 km from the frontline. The evacuation of local residents is being prepared, Crimea’s occupation authorities reported.
The fire broke out after three explosions occurred in the morning of 19 July at an ammunition depot at the Starokrymsky military training ground in Crimea’s Kirovsky district, the Krymskyi Veter Telegram channel reported. The channel reported three incoming strikes on the military range, without specifying whether they were missile or drone strikes.
Ammunition exploding at military range in occupied Crimea after three reported incoming strikes|
The range in Kirov district is roughly within the striking distance of a Storm Shadow, but Ukraine has previously targeted Crimea with drones
???? Krymskyi Veter… pic.twitter.com/7UkQwMqrms— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) July 19, 2023
Local residents report sounds of ammunition detonation.
According to the Russian-appointed “head” of occupied Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, about 2,000 local residents are planned to be evacuated from four nearby settlements. The Tavrida highway is closed to vehicle traffic, Aksyonov reported.
The military training ground is potentially within the striking range of Storm Shadow cruise missiles used by Ukraine. However, the occupied peninsula has had a history of drone strikes. The latest incidents include:
- a marine drone attack on the Kerch Bridge on 17 July;
- a UAV attack on a railway hub in Dzhankoi on 22 March;
- a marine and aerial drone attack on Sevastopol on 22 March.
A previous version of this article said that Ukraine’s intelligence takes responsibility for the strike. It referred to a fake Telegram channel of Kyrylo Budanov, chief of Ukraine’s Intelligence. We apologize for the confusion caused.