Ukraine Strikes in Fear of Crimean Ammo home

A Ukrainian raid on Saturday caused a massive explosion at an ammunition depot in Russia's annexed Crime, forcing evacuation of nearby residents. This is the latest attack since Moscow cancelled a historic agreement allowing for safe export of wheat through the Black Sea.

Five days ago, a powerful explosion included the key bridge connecting Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, a Ukrainian territory illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.

The $3.6 billion Carchi Bridge is the longest in Europe, 19km long. It is considered by Moscow as essential for military operations in southern Ukraine.

Sergey Aksyonov, the head of the Crime appointed by the Kremlin, wrote in a post in the telegram, that there were no reports of victims, but that authorities were evacuate civilians within a 5km radius of the blast site.

The Ukrainian Army claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had destroyed a Russian military and oil depot in Oktyabbrske, in the Kransohvardizke region of Crime, but without specifying what weapons it used for the attack.

Earlier Saturday, Ukrainian officials reported that Russia had attacked 11 regions across the country on Friday and that at night it had killed at least eight civilians and other injuries.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry announced that a group of Russian journalists had fallen prey to artillery fires in the southern Zaporizina region. In an online statement, four pro-Kremlin media correspondents were said to have been hit and that one of them, Rostislav Zhuravlev, of the state news agency RIA Novosti was later killed as a result of his wounds.

The head installed by the Kremlin of territories occupied by Russia in the Zaporizia region, Yevhen Balitsky, wrote in RH. But his claims could not be verified independently. / VOA