Explosions reported in occupied Crimea, Russian proxy claims drone strike on ammunition depot

The Russian proxy head in occupied Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, claimed on July 24 that Ukrainian drones caused an explosion at an ammunition depot in the peninsula's Dzhankoi region.

Aksyonov claimed that 11 drones were shot down by the peninsula's air defense, with debris damaging a home in the Kirovske district. He said inhabitants of villages within 5 km of the explosion have been evacuated.

The railway in the Dzhankoi region and the Dzhankoi-Simferopol highway are closed to traffic, he added.

Kyiv has yet to comment on the accusation. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify Aksyonov's claim.

Two days earlier, on July 22, the Ukrainian military confirmed it had attacked an oil depot and Russian military warehouses in Russian-occupied Crimea. Explosions were reported in Crimea earlier in the day. A series of videos surfaced on social media where pillars of smoke could be seen rising from several locations, including near railway tracks.

ISW: Crimean Bridge attack continues to affect Russian logistics in southern Ukraine

The Crimean Bridge targeted on July 17 remains one of two ground lines of communication (GLOCs) supporting Russia’s southern force grouping. The other route passes through the occupied Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, the Institute for the Study of War explained.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova