This Forced Evacuation of 2K at Crimea Military Base

Ammunition fire also caused closure of major highway
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 19, 2023 3:13 PM CDT
This Forced Evacuation of 2K at Crimea Military Base
A plume of smoke rises over an ammunition depot where explosions occurred at the facility in Kirovsky district in Crimea, Wednesday, July 19, 2023.   (Viktor Korotayev/Kommersant Publishing House via AP)

Two days after an attack on a bridge linking Russia to the Crimean peninsula, a major fire at a military base in the Russian-occupied peninsula has forced the evacuation of 2,000 people, according to Crimea's governor. Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov said the fire at a military training ground had also caused the closure of a major highway, Reuters reports. The governor didn't disclose the cause of the fire, though a Ukrainian military official shared videos of a fire, saying it was an enemy ammunition dump.

Russia, which pulled out of a deal to let Ukraine export grain Monday, bombarded infrastructure including grain terminals in southern Ukraine Wednesday, the AP reports. At least a dozen people were injured, including a 9-year-old boy. Ukrainian officials say the strikes badly damaged port facilities in Odesa and destroyed 60,000 tons of grain. "Putin hasn't just blown up the Black Sea Grain Initiative; now he has hit the port city of Odesa with a hail of bombs for the second consecutive night," tweeted German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. "In doing that, he is robbing the world of any hope of Ukrainian grain. Every one of his bombs also hits the world's poorest." (More Crimea stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X