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Several aircraft munitions detonate at Saki airfield in Crimea, no victims — top brass

According to the Russia’s Defense Ministry, there was no strike at the airfield’s ammunition storage site

MOSCOW, August 9. /TASS/. Several aircraft munitions detonated at the Saki military airfield in Crimea and no one was hurt in the incident, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

"At about 3:20 p.m. on August 9, several aircraft munitions detonated at an enclosed storage site in the area of the settlement of Novofyodorovka on the territory of the Saki airfield," the ministry said in a statement.

There are no victims and the aircraft have not been damaged, it specified.

"Measures are underway to extinguish the fire that has broken out and find out the causes of the explosion. As the reports from the scene suggest, there was no strike at the airfield’s ammunition storage site," the ministry said.

Deputy Head of the Saki District Administration Viktoria Kazmirova said earlier on Tuesday, citing preliminary information that an explosion had occurred at the district’s airfield. Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Crimean head, confirmed the information on the blasts, specifying that they had taken place in the area of the settlement of Novofyodorovka.

Crimean Head Sergey Aksyonov said on his Telegram channel that he had left for the scene of the incident. Also, ambulances and aero-medical aircraft had been dispatched to the scene and the information on those who could have been hurt in the incident was being specified, the region’s Health Ministry reported.

The Saki military airfield near the village of Novofyodorovka in Crimea’s Saki district accommodates Russian combat planes and helicopters, including naval aviation aircraft. The military airfield also integrates the NITKA ground-based aviation training range where deck-based aircraft practice take-offs and landings.