Explosion thunders in Kerch, Crimea, Russian authorities claim air defence systems opened fire
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO – THURSDAY, 18 AUGUST 2022, 21:35
The Russian occupying authorities claim that air defence systems were activated in Kerch, Crimea, on Thursday evening.
Source: Oleg Kryuchkov, the so-called "advisor to the head of Crimea" on Telegram; local Telegram channels; Krym.Realii (Crimea.Realities)
Quote from Kryuchkov: "Preliminary information: the anti-aircraft defence systems have worked in Kerch. There is no danger to the town or the Crimean Bridge."
Details: At the same time, Crimea-based social media is reporting a loud blast in Kerch which was heard in different districts of the town, as well as in nearby villages. In some buildings, the windows were shaking.
Residents of Kerch told Krym.Realii (Crimea.Realities) that on the evening of 18 August, they heard loud noises similar to explosions.
According to information from social media, the first loud blasts that "the whole of Kerch could hear" happened at 20:42. People's windows shook, car alarms went off. People in Kerch began to post that they could see a light streak of smoke in the sky. At 20:56, another powerful sound, similar to an explosion, was heard, and a fiery flash appeared in the sky for a couple of seconds and vanished as quickly as it had appeared, Krym.Realii notes.
For reference: The Kerch Bridge or Crimean Bridge, which connects occupied Crimea with Russia, is located in Kerch.
Previously: On 17 August, Mykhailo Podoliak, the adviser to the head of the President’s Office, stated that the Crimean Bridge should be destroyed as a legitimate military target.
Background:
- On 16 August, explosions occurred in the Dzhankoi district in Russian-occupied Crimea. A detonation at an ammunition depot in the village of Maiske was reported. The occupying authorities of Crimea began to evacuate people.
- Andrii Yermak, the head of the President’s Office, noticed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were behind the explosions in Crimea, and added that the destruction of Russian ammunition depots would continue until all Ukrainian territories have been liberated.
- According to The New York Times, an elite Ukrainian military unit was involved in the morning explosions at the depot near Dzhankoi.
- At lunchtime, Russian media reported new explosions in Crimea, this time at a military air base near Simferopol.
- On 9 August, explosions also occurred at the Saky military airfield in Novofedorivka.
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