Blasts rock Crimea hours after Zelensky vows full fire control over region | CPT PPP Coverage

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Multiple Crimea-based Telegram channels on Tuesday reported the sounds of explosions near Sevastopol hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Volodymyr Zelensky declared his military forces would soon have full fire control capabilities over Crimea.

Newsweek could not independently verify the source of the explosions, but Sevastopol’s governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, confirmed that at least one blast had occurred in the region. He did not indicate if the explosion came as a result of Kyiv’s forces or from Russia’s military.

Meanwhile, several social media accounts claimed the source of the explosions was a strike by Kyiv on Russia’s Belbek military airfield near Sevastopol. Those reports have not been verified as of press time.

Crimea is recognized as Ukrainian territory by many countries, but Russia invaded and annexed the peninsula in 2014. Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine in February 2022, the region has seen regular strikes targeting Russian forces there, and Volodymyr Zelensky has frequently promised to reclaim the land.

During an online address at the parliamentary summit of the Crimean Platform on Tuesday, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of Russia’s plans to open a new naval base in Abkhazia, a Russian-occupied region of Georgia, in order to move its Black Sea Fleet ships “as far as possible from Ukrainian missiles and naval drones.”

The Ukrainian leader also said his forces would soon have control of the skies over Crimea.

“As of now, we have not yet achieved full fire control over Crimea and its adjacent waters. But we will. It’s just a matter of time,” Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Later on Tuesday afternoon, reports began filling social media of loud blasts in Crimea.

Crimea.Realities, a regional news outlet of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service, reported on its Telegram account of a “powerful explosion” in Sevastopol that caused “windows to shake.”

Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian and Russian ministries of foreign affairs via email for comment.

The Telegram channel Crimean Wind wrote that two explosions were reported in Sevastopol. The account added that one of the explosions was heard in Bakhchisaray, a town located approximately 37 miles away from Sevastopol.

The Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne reported that a local resident said “several powerful explosions were heard in occupied Sevastopol.”

Razvozhayev attempted to downplay the reports and called for calm in the region. He told the Russian state-owned outlet Tass that an explosion occurred near Sevastopol after a “drone was forced to land by electronic warfare means” and later exploded on the ground. Razvozhayev also said other loud sounds that were reported around the port city came from military actions conducted in the nearby Black Sea.

Later in the day, Maria Drutska—who works in Ukraine’s foreign affairs sector—wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “everything is calm” in Sevastopol.

“However, the shockwave from the explosion rattled the beds in the homes of local residents, and windows were blown out,” Drutska said.