Ukraine has hit back at Russia by attacking their airbase in Crimea - with three people injured by the explosions.
Among the three wounded was a 13-year-old boy with a cut wound on his forearm and a pensioner with a shrapnel wound - following an attack on Novofedorivka.
There were 15 explosions reported in 30 minutes in the annexed peninsula - which until now has avoided major assaults.
The area was filled with smoke and dust which saw 30 people evacuated from houses adjacent to the airfield - with detonations continuing.
Head of the pro-Putin Crimean government in the annexed peninsula Sergey Aksyonov announced an evacuation and a 5km safety zone around the explosions.
He confirmed the explosions were at a military airfield.
“Ambulance crews and medical aviation are working on the spot, there are enough of them,” he said.
"It is too early to talk about the victims.
“Among the civilian population, no one has yet applied to medical institutions for help.
“I earnestly ask you to trust only official information.”
He said: “All necessary measures have been strengthened to ensure the safety of infrastructure and the population
Three explosions were particularly loud, triggering sparks and smoke and around 30 minutes later, one more blast, described by witnesses as the loudest of all, triggered two more plumes of smoke and dust.
One local said: "It slammed so loudly that we were deafened." Another said: "Something is burning in Novofyodorovka.
“There are some explosions as it burns.”
Oleg Kryuchkov, advisor to the pro-Putin government in annexed Crimea, said: "So far I can only confirm the fact of several explosions in the Novofedorivka area.
“I ask everyone to wait for official reports and not to invent new versions.”
In the nearby town of Saky, sirens blared as the Russian governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said in a post on his Telegram channel that he had gone to the area and that the "circumstances are being clarified".
Emergency services were deployed, the TASS news agency reported, citing the regional health ministry. Locals reported congestion on roads leading away from the coast.
The head of the pro-Moscow regime Sergey Aksyonov, said that he was on his way there to the scene.
Ambulances and air ambulances were sent to the site of the explosions in Crimea.
However, Russian emergency ministry officers were kept away from the explosions on a defence ministry site in the annexed peninsula, according to reports.
It was unclear why they were being prevented from seeking to put out fires, their normal role in an emergency
Information about any victims was being established, the Ministry of Health of the region reports.
Russia for decades leased the naval port of Sevastopol, home of its Black Sea Fleet, from Kyiv, but annexed the entire peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
The 43rd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the PKS of Russia is currently based at the airfield, which mainly consists of Su-30SM, Su-33 aircraft and Su-24M bombers.
A Russian defence source denied incoming missile fire, claiming: ”At around 3.20pm, aircraft ammunition detonated at the 'Saki' airfield near the village of Novofedorovka at a rubble storage site.
"No one was injured as a result of the explosion. No aviation equipment at the airfield was damaged.
"Measures are being taken to extinguish the resulting fire and investigate the cause of the explosion.
“According to the report from the site, there was no fire impact on the collapsed ammunition storage area at the airfield.”
It remains under Russian control, but has not seen the intense bombardment and artillery combat that have taken place in other areas of eastern.
And southern Ukraine since February 24, when President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian armed forces into Ukraine.
