A US company has released satellite images of a damaged military base in Crimea, following a series of heavy explosions on the Russian-occupied Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula.
Contrary to Moscow's account, these images appear to show the destruction of several Russian fighter jets at the base on the peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, according to US reports. Kyiv had previously spoken of 10 aircraft.
Both The New York Times newspaper and the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported at least eight burnt aircraft on Thursday. Russia reported there had been a fire at the base and exploded munitions due to negligence but did not mention any destroyed military equipment.
Satellite photos provided by the US company Planet Labs show devastation after the explosions at the Saki military base on Tuesday. The official Russian version of events is that a violation of fire safety regulations was responsible for the incident. There was also talk in Moscow of one dead and 14 injured.
The authorities in Kyiv have not officially claimed responsibility for the explosions. Nevertheless, due to their number and force, many observers now assume a targeted Ukrainian attack took place. According to ISW military experts the Russian leadership does not want to admit to a Ukrainian attack because it would then have to admit that its air defences had failed.
