Zelenskyy says 9 Russian jets had been destroyed in Crimea blasts – POLITICO

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned late Wednesday that the blasts which rocked a Russian air base in annexed Crimea destroyed 9 Russian plane.

“In simply at some point, the occupiers misplaced ten fight plane: 9 in Crimea and yet another within the path of Zaporizhzhia,” Zelenskyy mentioned in his conventional nightly handle. “The occupiers additionally endure new losses of armored automobiles, warehouses with ammunition, logistics routes,” he mentioned.

“The extra losses the occupiers endure, the earlier we can liberate our land and assure Ukraine’s safety,” he added.

Although Ukraine has not formally claimed duty for the Crimea blasts on Tuesday, two senior Ukrainian officers advised POLITICO that they signaled the beginning of Ukraine’s counteroffensive within the south and a crucial new part of the conflict that might form its final end result.

Moscow downplayed the strikes, saying they had been attributable to ammunition that had by accident detonated on the airfield. Nevertheless, satellite tv for pc pictures confirmed a number of navy planes destroyed and a minimum of three blast craters in areas the place planes had been parked, indicating a severe blow to the Russian navy.

In the meantime, Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelenskyy’s senior adviser, delivered a tongue-in-cheek cautionary notice that the “epidemic of technical accidents at navy airfields of Crimea and Belarus” ought to be seen by the Russian navy as “a warning.”

“Overlook about Ukraine, take off the uniform and depart. Neither in occupied Crimea nor in occupied Belarus will you are feeling secure. Karma finds you anyplace,” he added.

Shortly after the strikes, Zelenskyy mentioned that Crimea will ultimately be a part of Ukraine once more: “This Russian conflict in opposition to Ukraine and in opposition to all of free Europe started with Crimea and should finish with Crimea — with its liberation. … I do know that we’ll return to the Ukrainian Crimea.”