A major fire swept through a Russian military unit near Moscow overnight and around 50 conscripts and soldiers had to be evacuated, it has been reported.
The fire reportedly happened in Dolgoprudny, 20 kilometres north of Moscow city centre, at the 4th Air Defence Division base according to Russian State Media TASS, citing the Ministry of Emergencies.
There were apparently no casualties but the video shows a large fire, instilling fear among pro-Putin Russians that there is a rising number of incidents of sabotage linked to the war in Ukraine.
Widespread damage was also reportedly inflicted on a Russian military base in annexed Crimea on Tuesday, satellite pictures show.
Kyiv didn’t take responsibility for the blasts at the Novofedorivka air force base on the Crimean Peninsula along the Black Sea coast.
But officials and ordinary citizens celebrated, mocking Russian claims that it was a minor incident caused by an ammunition explosion.
There are suspicions that the damage to warplanes and loss of life at Novofedorivka is far higher than Putin’s officials have admitted, amid a virtual news blackout on the incident in Russia.
Early footage from the scene showed the confused reactions among tourists at Novofedorivka beach.
The area usually enjoyed by revellers for swimming was soon taken over by plumes of thick black smoke rising from a nearby Saki air base.
Many now think it was to do with the conflict and not just a freak explosion as Russia has claimed.
A Ukrainian government official told The Washington Post on Wednesday that Ukrainian special forces had carried out the attack.
Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of state-funded broadcaster RT and a fierce supporter of the Kremlin, referred to the peninsula as a “red line” on Twitter.
Russia invaded the peninsula in March 2014, seizing it from Ukraine and formally annexing it just weeks later, despite this it is officially still a part of Ukraine in the eyes of the world despite Russia largely having control.
Zelensky did not specifically mention the blasts in an evening video address but said it was right that people were focusing on Crimea.
"The Black Sea region cannot be safe while Crimea is occupied," he said, reiterating Kyiv's position that Crimea would have to be returned to Ukraine.
Asked whether Ukraine was taking responsibility for the blasts at Dolgoprudny, presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak told the Dozhd online television channel: "Of course not. What do we have to do with this?"
The base is close to the border with Ukraine and the incident followed the arrival of Russian Il-76s yesterday which may have brought air defence equipment.
The military base at Dolgoprudny is used to disperse new recruits including draftees, but it is unclear what role it plays in the supply of manpower to Putin’s war effort.
The blaze reportedly engulfed 1,200 square metres, destroying wooden barracks.
