Ukraine-Russia: Ukraine says nine Russian warplanes were destroyed in Crimea blasts

Nine Russian jets were destroyed in explosions at an air base in Crimea, Ukraine’s air force said.

It comes amid speculation the blasts were the result of a Ukrainian attack that would represent a significant escalation in the war.

Russia denied any aircraft were damaged in Tuesday’s explosions — or that any attack took place.

Ukrainian officials have stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility for the explosions, while poking fun at Russia’s explanation that munitions at the Saki air base caught fire and blew up and underscoring the importance of the peninsula that Moscow annexed eight years ago.

Rising smoke can be seen from the beach at Saky after explosions were heard from the direction of a Russian military airbase near Novofedorivka, Crimea. Picture: UGC via AP

In his nightly video address several hours after the blasts, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to retake the peninsula, saying “this Russian war against Ukraine and against all of free Europe began with Crimea and must end with Crimea — its liberation”.

On Wednesday, Russian authorities sought to downplay the explosions, saying all hotels and beaches were unaffected on the peninsula. The location is a popular tourist destination for many Russians.

The fireballs, which killed one person and wounded 13, sent tourists fleeing in panic as plumes of smoke towered over the nearby coastline.

They smashed windows and caused other damage in some apartment buildings.

Russian jets have used Saki to strike areas in Ukraine’s south on short notice, and Ukrainian social networks were abuzz with speculation Ukrainian-fired long-range missiles hit the base.

Officials in Moscow have long warned Ukraine that any attack on Crimea would trigger massive retaliation, including strikes on “decision-making centres” in Kyiv.

The base on the Black Sea peninsula that dangles off southern Ukraine is at least 125 miles away from the closest Ukrainian position — out of the range of the missiles supplied by the US for use in the Himars systems.

The Ukrainian military has successfully used those missiles, with a range of 50 miles, to target ammunition and fuel depots, strategic bridges and other key targets in Russia-occupied territories.

Himars could also fire longer-range rockets, with a range of up to about 185 miles, that Ukraine has asked for.

But US authorities have refrained from providing them thus far, fearing it could provoke Russia and widen the conflict.

But the explosions in Saki raised speculation on social media Ukraine might have finally got the weapons.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said the Ukrainian forces could have struck the Russian air base with a Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile that has a range of about 125 miles and could have been adapted for use against ground targets and fired from Ukrainian positions near Mykolaiv northwest of Crimea.

The Ukrainian military might also have used Western-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles that can also be used against ground targets and have a range of about 185 miles, he said.

If Ukrainian forces were, in fact, responsible for the blasts, it would be the first known major attack on a Russian military site in Crimea, which the Kremlin annexed in 2014.