Who was behind the explosions in Crimea? Ukraine and Russia aren’t saying : NPR

Smoke rises after explosions were heard from the direction of a Russian military airbase near Novofedorivka, Crimea, in this still image obtained by Reuters Tuesday.

Obtained by Reuters/via Reuters

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Obtained by Reuters/via Reuters

Smoke rises after explosions were heard from the direction of a Russian military airbase near Novofedorivka, Crimea, in this still image obtained by Reuters Tuesday.

Obtained by Reuters/via Reuters

KYIV, Ukraine — Days after explosions at a Russian air base on the Crimean coast, no side has officially taken responsibility for what many Ukrainian and international commentators believe to be an attack. On Friday, the U.S. Defense Department corroborated the claims that Ukraine was responsible for the attack.

A Defense Department statement, citing an anonymous senior official, read, “The bombardment significantly impacted Russian airpower and personnel.”

In the hours following Tuesday’s blasts, Russian officials claimed workers at the Saki air base weren’t following safety protocols, which led to a serious accident and fire. But as social media images appeared of large columns of smoke rising above a nearby beach and ambulances rushing to the scene, local Russian authorities acknowledged that one person was dead and several injured. And a bigger picture of the damage came Wednesday when the officials vowed to repair more than 80 buildings damaged during the blasts.

Analysis of satellite images published by the company Planet suggests that multiple explosions took place hundreds of feet apart, damaging nine airplanes and scattering debris on the taxiway. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said nine Russian planes were destroyed.

Ukrainian officials claim that planes based at the Saki air base were providing tactical assistance to Russia’s occupation of Ukraine’s southern mainland, where authorities loyal to Moscow announced their intent to be annexed into the Russian Federation.

Many people in Ukraine celebrated the blasts, believing that Ukraine’s efforts to take back Russian-occupied territory finally reached Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Ukrainian officials, including Zelenskyy and his top adviser, publicly denied that Ukraine was behind attacks at the base, but the contested peninsula has dominated speeches and media coverage of the war this week.

A combination photo shows satellite images of Saki air base in Crimea, Aug. 9 and after an attack on Aug. 10.

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