A spate of explosions in Crimea has bolstered the mood in Ukraine. While Kyiv has been coy in discussing the incidents publicly, dropping heavy hints but not explicitly taking credit, unnamed officials have been busy briefing reporters. On 9 August, nine or more Russian warplanes appear to have been destroyed at the Saky airbase on the peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014. Then, on Tuesday, blasts were reported at an ammunition site and airfield. Russia blamed “sabotage”. On Thursday night, there were reports of more explosions at the major Belbek airbase, as well as a blaze at a munitions depot inside Russia.
All these are a much-needed fillip for Ukrainian morale. A senior presidential adviser has said that there is “strategic deadlock”. Though the picture in the country’s south is muddled, Russian forces appear largely stalled. But Ukraine is massively outgunned and Russia continues to gain ground in the east, albeit slowly and with serious losses, by pounding away with heavy artillery and no regard for the cost to Ukrainian civilians or its own forces.
