Footage from inside a Russian airfield in annexed Crimea shows the aftermath of the 15 explosions which hit the site caused by Ukraine as it fights back against the invaders.
The explosions happened near the town of Saki, the home to Russia's 43rd Air Regiment.
More footage shows wrecked cars from a series of explosions at the military base as frightened Russian tourists were seen hurrying from beaches amid the explosions.
Huge plumes of smoke and mushroom clouds were seen in the aftermath.
Ukraine neither confirmed nor denied an air missile attack on the airfield while also hinting at sabotage by partisans on the peninsula, and warning: “This is just the beginning.”
One person was killed and nine wounded in the blasts, said the Russian authorities in Crimea.
The footage appears to show massive damage consistent with a major attack even if the cause remains unclear.
As well as the destroyed warplane, a car is seen skewered by a long metal object, apparently due to a blast.
Russia claimed the explosions were caused by ammunition explosions but this was decried even by pro-Moscow sources.
A similar explanation of exploding munitions was given by Russian defence officials when the Moskva cruiser was in fact sunk by Ukrainian missiles in April.
Some Ukraine sources hinted at a missile strike, even though no incoming rockets were seen on footage of the incident.
"As you can see, missiles with a range of 200-300km are already being used in our country," said Viktor Andrusiv, previously an adviser to Ukraine's Interior Ministry.
“The explosions in Melitopol and…at Novofedorivka…are proof of this.”
He threatened that Vladimir Putin ’s bridge connecting the annexed territory to the Russian mainland at Kerch was in danger of attack.
“I advise the occupiers not to use it in the coming months.”
There was speculation that the attack showed the West had supplied Ukraine with longer range missiles than previously announced.
But a Ukrainian military official told The New York Times that “a device exclusively of Ukrainian manufacture was used”.
President Volodymyr Zelensky did not claim a missile strike but said: "Today, there is a lot of attention on the topic of Crimea.
“And rightly so…
“Crimea is Ukrainian, and we will never give it up.”
Statements from Ukraine appeared aimed at confusing the enemy.
The defence ministry said it "cannot establish the cause of the fire," cautioning Russians the dangers of "smoking in unspecified places."
Crimea should be "the pearl of the Black Sea, a national park with unique nature," not "a military base for terrorists,” claimed Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelensky.
"It is just the beginning,” he Tweeted, referring to the explosions.
He suggested people on Crimea were responsible for a sabotage attack.
"People who are living under occupation understand that the occupation is coming to an end,” he said.
Pro-Moscow sources discounted the Russian explanation of a munitions explosion, with Igor Girkin posting: 'So the Russian Defence Ministry stated that ammunition was stored in Novofedorivka. It exploded, but there was no attack.
“Here they were, lying.”
The official Russian version was “one chance in a million”.
Girkin is an intelligence and army veteran, formerly a staunchly pro-Putin commander in the Donbas and Crimea.
Rybar telegram channel said “a total of ten Su-24M and Su-30SM, several helicopters and an IL-76 transport plane were at the airfield at the time of the strike.
“The latter was already on the runway at a distance from the epicentre by the time of the blast and was very likely unharmed.”
However, apart from the blitzed Su-24M, the damage was so far “difficult to estimate”.
“A video of at least one burnt-out Su-24 bomber and bomb carts, which were mistaken for burnt-out aircraft wrecks, has surfaced online.”
There was no evidence of an incoming missile which meant sabotage or negligence were the likely explanations.
In a sabotage attack the aircraft car park may have been “attacked by a copter with a small bomb.
“It may have set fire to the fuel tanker, causing fuel and ammunition to detonate.
“One of the clips shows two simultaneous explosions, which were seen as triggering pre-set charges.
“However, by then there was already a fire at the airfield and the simultaneous detonation could have been caused by secondary factors from the scattering of shrapnel.”
But the channel said negligence may also be to blame.
“Similar cases have already occurred in Syria when the negligence of local servicemen resulted in the loss of aircraft. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out either.”
