– by Tom Balmforth
Kyiv (Reuters) – Despite denials from Moscow, satellite images show severe destruction at a Russian military base on Ukraine’s annexed Crimea peninsula.
Images released Thursday by Planet Labs show multiple craters in places where buildings and planes previously stood. Fire damage is just as clearly recognizable as eight burned-out fighter jet wrecks. The exact background to the detonations on Tuesday is not yet clear.
Russia speaks of an accident and denies that planes were damaged. The government in Moscow has only admitted that there were several explosions at the Saki base on the south-west coast of Crimea. It was stored ammunition. It was the result of an accident, possibly a violation of fire safety regulations, and not the result of an attack. Ukraine has not yet made a clear public statement. “Officially we do not confirm anything and we do not deny anything,” Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak said in a statement to Reuters. “There are numerous scenarios for what could have happened.” However, it should be remembered that “there were several epicenters of explosions at exactly the same time”.
However, Ukrainian officials indicated that the explosions may have been a result of sabotage and partisans. But the footage could also indicate that the base was hit by a volley of missiles. However, the base is far beyond the reach of the weapons that Western countries say they have provided to Ukraine to support its defense capabilities. However, Ukraine also has certain missiles that are actually intended to attack ships, but which could theoretically also hit targets on land.
Western military experts do not rule out that it was a Ukrainian attack. They see the magnitude of the detonations and the apparent precision with which they are believed to have been triggered as a sign that a powerful new component may have arrived in the war between Russia and Ukraine that has been raging since late February – with potentially important implications. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. The government in Moscow uses the peninsula as a base for its Black Sea Fleet and as a main supply route for its invading forces in southern Ukraine. Kyiv is preparing a counter-offensive there. The goal is to reconquer the peninsula and the other occupied territories.
“WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THIS FOR THE NEXT TIME”
However, the fighting on the front lines in the east and south of Ukraine is increasingly developing into a trench warfare. None of the warring parties has recently been able to report any significant advances. The Ukrainian side reported a heavy decision along the entire front, from Kharkiv in the north-east of the country, through the eastern Donetsk region in the Donbass, along the Dnipro River in the Zaporizhia region, where Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is located, to Kherson and Mikolajiv in the south of the country. According to Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksiy Hromov, Russian forces have doubled the number of airstrikes compared to the previous week. However, the accuracy of the attacks is low.
According to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the war can only end if Ukraine agrees to the modalities. Only the Ukrainian president, parliament and the people can ultimately decide on what terms the conflict can be resolved, Scholz said at his summer press conference in Berlin. In this respect, this rules out a dictated peace by Russia. That is why Ukraine must continue to be supported on a permanent basis. In response to the Russian war of aggression, Germany broke with tradition and was supplying arms to a war zone, the Chancellor stressed. “We will continue to do so in the near future.”
(Reuters offices. Edited by Christian Rüttger and Alexander Ratz. Edited by Christian Götz. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at [email protected] (for politics and the economy) or [email protected] ( for companies and markets).)