Another attack on the russian military objects in Crimea hit two important facilities near the Oktiabrske village in the very center of the occupied peninsula. according to the report of the local administration, the attack was carried out with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
The videos shot by local residents indicate that a nearby oil depot and an airfield were hit. Back in the Soviet times, it was the biggest air base of the Black Sea Fleet of the USSR.
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As for the oil depot, this target was a "big one," although not in terms of its size or capacity but in terms of strategic importance – as it is situated in immediate access to the railway.
The railroad starts in Dzhankoi, passes by the oil storage in Oktiabrske, and later on divides into two lines one leading to Yevpatoriia to the west, and the other stretching to Simferopol and Sevastopol to the south, all the three biggest cities in Crimea. Consequently, until the fire is extinguished, the railway traffic will remain at a standstill for the majority of the peninsula.
The airfield, in turn, has been abandoned since the 1990s when all of the aviation units were disbanded. However, once russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the russian military revitalized the former airbase, although in a new role as a field camp.
Publicly available satellite imagery from Google Earth dated February last year clearly shows this airfield with a large number of light military vehicles and tents deployed there.
The videos filmed near that area allow us to see and hear exploding ammunition, the big cloud of smoke also testifies how accurate and effective was the strike.
Shortly after the incident, the russian-appointed Crimean governor Aksyonov reported the following:
"As a result of an attack by an enemy UAV on the Krasnohvardiiske District, a detonation happened in the ammunition depot. No destruction or casualties, according to the preliminary data. A decision has been made to evacuate the population within a 5 km radius of the scene of emergency. To minimize the risks, it was decided to suspend the Crimea Railway traffic."
Defense Express leaves this announcement without further comments.
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