imminent resumption of Ukrainian grain exports, six dead in strikes in the east of the country

A Ukrainian military official, speaking anonymously, said Ukrainian forces were behind the attack that caused several explosions on Tuesday at a Russian airbase in western Crimea, Ukrainian territory. annexed by Moscow since 2014. kyiv has refused to confirm the involvement of its army, and the information of this military official could not be independently verified. However, it was relayed by the washington post and the New York Times.

Local authorities in Crimea reported on Tuesday several explosions at the site of a military airfield. The Russian army then claimed that no shooting or bombardment had been the cause of these explosions, explaining that “several ammunition intended for aviation [avaient] exploded at a depot located on the territory of the Saky military airfield, near the settlement of Novofedorivka ». One person was killed.

Ukraine’s air force said in a statement that nine Russian military planes were destroyed in the explosions at the airbase, which authorities believe is being used by Russian forces as a missile launch base. . The statement, however, does not clearly claim an attack. Similarly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said nothing about the event on Tuesday, but he focused his daily video address on Crimea, promising to reclaim the territory.

The Ukrainian official who spoke anonymously did not disclose the type of weapons that caused the explosions, saying only that it was a “machine of exclusively Ukrainian manufacture”. According to New York Times, Ukraine has few weapons capable of reaching the Crimean peninsula, the use of aircraft being unlikely given the many Russian defense forces in the region. The targeted air base is about 160 kilometers from the nearest Ukrainian position.

Similarly, the military historian and former naval troop colonel, Michel Goya, who regularly delivers his analysis of the war in Ukraine on Twitterwonders what weapon Ukrainian forces might have used – if they were really behind this attack “particularly daring[se] and disturbing[e] for Russians ». One of the only hypotheses he considers plausible is the use of ballistic missiles, launched by Himars multiple rocket launchers, supplied by the United States and with a range of 300 kilometers. A theory which, however, opposes the assertion by the Ukrainian manager of a factory “exclusively Ukrainian”.

The source also claimed that resistance forces loyal to the kyiv government were involved in the attack, but would not specify whether these forces carried out the operation or simply assisted the attack. Ukrainian army. Mr. Goya judged that the internal resistance in Crimea was not “non-existent (…) but very weak and non-violent”.