UKRAINE: Explosions and fires have been reported at military targets inside Russia and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, in the latest of a string of apparent sabotage missions deep into Russian-held territory. The Russian air force fired at unnamed objects over the Crimean city of Kerch , defending the Ukrainian peninsula occupied by Moscow since 2014. The port city serves as the entry point for an 18-kilometer bridge that connects Russia and Crimea.
Following a fire at an ammunition storage in Belgorod province close to the Ukrainian border, two Russian settlements were evacuated. In a statement, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that "an ammunition depot caught fire in the village of Timonovo," fewer than 50 kilometres from the border, adding that no casualties were reported.
Near the significant Belbek airport, north of Sevastopol in the occupied Crimean peninsula, at least four explosions were reported. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the pro-Russian governor of Sevastopol, declared: "There is no damage. There was no injury.
Air defences were also activated close to Kerch, a strategically significant supply route that many Ukrainians would want to see destroyed. Kerch is the city at the Crimean end of a bridge to mainland Russia. A drone from Ukraine was shot down, according to the local media.
After videos of fires in Timonovo began to circulate, the Ukrainian defence ministry sent a tongue-in-cheek tweet with the simple message "smoking kills!" In the past, officials have made lighthearted remarks about "careless smokers" as the source of explosions and flames at military locations in the occupied Crimea.
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