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Two massive attacks on Russian bases in Crimea far from the frontline in recent days have given Ukraine a boost -- eight years after Russia’s humiliating takeover of the strategic peninsula.
Russia’s defence ministry said a series of explosions at an ammunitions storage facility near the village of Dzhankoi on Tuesday, which also damaged a railway line, were an act of “sabotage”.
There was no public claim of responsibility by Ukrainian authorities, but presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak called it “demilitarisation in action” -- using the same terminology employed by Russia to justify its invasion of Ukraine.
The blasts came exactly a week after an attack on an air base which a senior Ukrainian official speaking on condition of anonymity described as a “well-prepared, special partisan job”.
Analyst Oliver Alexander said the explosions, which he believes might have been caused by ballistic missiles, were hitting morale on the Russian side and lifting it on the Ukrainian side.
“Crimea has been relatively safe in the last six months. Now it isn’t any longer. It does put more pressure on the Russians,” he said.
The attacks have sparked panic among Russian tourists in Crimea and concern in Moscow that a newly-built bridge linking Russia to Crimea across the Kerch Strait could be targeted.
Podolyak on Wednesday called for the bridge to be “dismantled.”
“Not important how –- voluntary or not,” he said, suggesting it, too, was a legitimate military target.
‘Coherent’ counter-offensive
The Institute for the Study of War in London pointed out that Tuesday’s attack was on a key supply hub for Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
It said attacks of the past week were part of “a coherent Ukrainian counter-offensive” to disrupt supply lines and force Russian troops back across the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine.
“Russian supply lines from Crimea directly support Russian forces in mainland Ukraine including those in western Kherson Oblast,” it said.