Ukrainian military intelligence official Andriy Yusov stated on Saturday that more than ten oil product tanks, with a capacity of around 40,000 tons, were destroyed in an explosion at the Russian-occupied port of Sevastopol. Although Yusov did not attribute responsibility for the explosion to Ukraine in his comments reported by RBC Ukraine, he described the blast as "divine retribution" following a Russian strike on a Ukrainian city the previous day.
The Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol blamed Ukraine for the fire, later stating that it was extinguished before a disaster occurred. This explosion comes as Ukraine prepares for a long-awaited counteroffensive to push Russian forces back from territories occupied since the invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine asserts that regaining control over all its territories, including the Crimea Peninsula, is a prerequisite for any peace agreement. Russian forces occupied the peninsula in 2014. Moscow accuses Kyiv of carrying out attacks on the Crimea Peninsula using drones and boats.
Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev reported that one drone hit a fuel depot. He wrote on the Telegram app: "The enemy... wanted to surprise Sevastopol, as usual, with a stealth attack in the morning." He added that Russian firefighters displayed skill in managing a large fire "and preventing a disaster."
