Some 2,000 people were told to temporarily relocate, according to local authorities
A blaze is seen near a military range in Crimea, July 19, 2023. © RIA Novosti
Crimean authorities have shut down a major highway and ordered the evacuation of four settlements in the immediate vicinity of an ammunition depot in the east of the peninsula, which “caught fire” on Wednesday morning.
Crimean Governor Sergey Aksyonov announced the plan to “temporarily evacuate residents of four settlements – more than two thousand people” at around 7:15am local time, shortly after announcing that a segment of the Tavrida highway was closed due to major blaze at a nearby military range.
The cause of the incident has yet to be officially confirmed, but several popular Telegram channels have shared videos purportedly showing the fire.
The incident comes a day after the Russian military reportedly intercepted at least 28 Ukrainian drones targeting multiple locations across the peninsula on Tuesday morning.
On Monday, Kiev used two unmanned maritime surface drones to strike the Crimean Bridge. Moscow condemned the incident as a terrorist attack, saying two civilians were killed and one child injured. Tavrida is a major 250-kilometer highway which continues from the bridge into the peninsula itself.
