Kyiv, Ukraine,):Ukraine said Wednesday its forces had carried out a successful operation in the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula after authorities there said a fire at a military facility prompted mass civilian evacuations.
“A successful operation was conducted on occupied Crimea. The enemy is concealing the extent of the damage and the number of losses in manpower,” Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, said in a statement.
Kremlin-installed authorities on the Black Sea territory annexed by Russia in 2014 said the fire had broken out at a training ground and that 2,000 nearby civilians were being removed for safety.
They did not specify the cause of the blaze but Russian media reported blasts and showed images of columns of black smoke rising from the sky.
Budanov posted amateur footage apparently taken at night of a large blast with fireballs shooting out from the flames.
Ukraine’s airforce meanwhile said it had shot down 13 cruise missiles fired by Russian forces overnight and 23 Iranian-made attack drones launched by Moscow.
They also said they had downed a guided missile over the southern city of Odesa, where local authorities announced the debris had injured three people.
