Satellite images of explosions in Crimea: sabotage or Ukrainian strike?
Satellite images of the Saki base, near Novofedorivka, on the west coast of Crimea, August 9, 2022. AP - Planet Labs PBC
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More than 24 hours after the explosions noted on an airfield in Crimea, a peninsula which was annexed by Russia in 2014, new satellite images prove that in addition to ammunition depots, Russian combat planes were also destroyed.
The Russian authorities continue to speak of an accident and the Ukrainian army refuses to comment on a possible involvement.
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The satellite images published by the American company Planet Labs leave no room for doubt.
Russian fighter planes, at least eight, were destroyed on Tuesday August 9 during the explosions observed at the Saky air base, located about 70 km from Sevastopol, in Crimea.
Information confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but which Moscow continues to deny, which speaks of ammunition depots which would have exploded following an accident.
Even if kyiv refuses to confirm that it was a targeted attack by its army, this version circulates well within the Ukrainian general staff, as does another hypothesis considered by many media, that of a sabotage by partisans, as a close adviser of Volodymyr Zelensky also suggested.
Crimea still Ukrainian for kyiv
The Ukrainian president, during a speech delivered on Wednesday August 10, recalled that Crimea is Ukrainian and that kyiv would never abandon it.
An additional clue that suggests that these explosions were anything but an accident.
This Saky airfield houses, in addition to ammunition depots, fighters, as well as bombers, according to the British press.
And the explosions observed on Tuesday, August 9 would have caused, in addition to significant material damage, one death and 14 injuries.
►Also read: The attack in Crimea "really fits into Ukrainian strategy"
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