The Crimea, currently occupied by russian forces, was shaken by another explosion that occurred on August 2nd near the Hvardiiske settlement, in the center of the peninsula.
First videos from the site have already spread through the open media, the footage below shows smoke rising after the initial strike followed by the second explosion.
Read more: Resistance of Civilian Population to russians Increasing in Temporarily Occupied Crimea
Update note: the original link to the video has crashed so here we provided an alternative link to the same footage
Judging by the sound, the attacking object was making, most likely it was a cruise missile traveling at a low altitude. Beyond that, we can hear the second stage of detonation right after the initial blast. Surely, it's difficult to say for sure which weapon was used for the attack but so far the description matches the Storm Shadow missile which is available to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. What's even more interesting, no russian air defense is seen or heard working at the time.
The target chosen for this attack is interesting, too. Near Hvardiiske, there is an air base that usually accommodates the 37th Mixed Aviation Regiment of the russian "aerospace forces" with Su-24 and Su-25 aircraft in service. In current conditions, however, the airfield could be having much greater forces as it has a location convenient for launching strikes on Ukraine.
There have been multiple strikes on this air base, starting the first one in August last year.
However, this time the blow might have been much harder because of an advanced and full-fledged weapon being used instead of some UAVs or sabotage (the exact reason for explosions at this airfield was never confirmed).
The silence of russia's authorities who usually report swarms of drones and missiles downed by EW systems in their traditional way, actually testifies like nothing else could that there are serious problems this time.
Worth noting though that it's not necessarily the air base itself that could have been struck. It is common practice for russians to establish storage facilities for ammunition, and there is also the Ostriakove railway station nearby, an oil depot, and a few other potential targets as well.
Read more: Ukraine Starts Producing of Rubaka Kamikaze Drones Capable of Covering Distances Of Up to 500 km
