Explosion hits ammunition site in Russia-annexed Crimea

According to the top Russian-backed authority in the area, a munitions store explosion in the Russian-occupied Crimea on Tuesday injured two persons and disrupted rail operations between the peninsula and the rest of southern Ukraine and Russia.

Russian state television broadcast images of an electrical substation on fire nearby the Crimean town of Dzhankoi and a string of recurrent, sizable explosions that the authorities claimed were the results of weapons going off at a military camp.

The top Russian official in Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, told state television that the cause of the explosions was under investigation but that he did not want to discuss it.

He said that more than 2,000 locals had been evacuated from the closest community outside of a 5 km (3.1 miles) radius.

Russia has utilized Crimea to supply military weapons to its forces engaged in what it refers to as a "special military operation" in Ukraine. That procedure might be hampered by the damage to the peninsula's train network that was reported on Tuesday.

According to the Russian news agency RIA, rail movement on a portion of the line in northern Crimea has been suspended and seven passenger trains have been delayed. A bus service would be offered, according to Aksyonov, so that passengers could continue travelling.

The incident comes after a string of explosions at a Russian-run air base in Crimea last week that Ukrainian officials suggested may have been a part of a special operation but which Moscow claimed to be an accident.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, accuses Russia of waging an unprovoked campaign of aggression in the imperial style. He has declared that his military is committed to liberating areas that Russian forces have been occupying since February 24 and has mentioned reclaiming Crimea, which Russia invaded in 2014 following an unrecognized referendum.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential advisor for Ukraine, alluded at potential Ukrainian involvement in Tuesday's blasts in a cryptic Tweet on Tuesday, although he stopped short of confirming it.

"(The) morning near Dzhankoi began with explosions," wrote Podolyak.

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