Ukraine’s Vows To Retake Crimea After Deadly Blasts
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KYIV/MOSCOW (Worthy News) – Ukraine’s president vowed late Tuesday that his country would retake the Crimea peninsula occupied by Russia after blasts there rocked a military base, killing one person.
“Today, it is impossible to say when this will happen,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky after his adviser denied that Kyiv was responsible for the explosions. “But we are constantly adding the necessary components to the formula for the liberation of Crimea,” Zelensky added in televised remarks.
Zelensky’s adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak, asked by the Dozhd online television channel whether Kyiv was taking responsibility for Tuesday’s blasts, replied: “Of course not. What do we have to do with this?”
The Russian-appointed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said the blasts rocked the Saky military base near Novofedorivka on the peninsula’s western coast.
Footage on social media appeared to show multiple explosions, and Russia’s defense ministry later claimed ammunition detonated.
The Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014 is a popular destination with Russian tourists, and visitors were seen fleeing from a beach as smoke rose in the background.
Last week, five Russian Navy staff members were wounded by an explosion. That blast occurred after a presumed drone flew into the courtyard of Russia’s Black Sea fleet in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.
If it emerges Ukraine was responsible for attacking targets inside Crimea proper, it would further escalate a war that has already impacted Europe and beyond.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, at least tens of thousands of people were killed and more injured, Western and Ukrainian officials say. More than 10.5 million Ukrainians fled the country, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.
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