Explosions in Crimea, Russian authorities report fire at landfill, evacuation of 4 settlements

This is reported by the head of the occupation authorities of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov, the adviser to the 'head' of Crimea Oleg Kryuchkov, and the Crimean Wind Telegram channel.

"The Tavrida highway has been closed due to a fire at a landfill in the Kirovskyi district. The traffic scheme will be published shortly," Aksyonov said.

In addition, a local Telegram channel noted that a munitions depot was hit at the Starokrymske training ground near the village of Krynychky and detonation is currently underway.

At the same time, at 06:54 a.m., there were reports of another powerful explosion at the training ground.

In addition, Sergey Aksyonov announced the possible evacuation of residents of four settlements.

"It is planned to temporarily evacuate residents of four settlements, more than two thousand people, from the area adjacent to the landfill in the Kirovskyi district. An operational headquarters is in place, and all relevant services are working on the spot," the statement says. 

Explosion on the Crimean bridge: what happened

The explosions on the Crimean bridge occurred in the morning of July 17, after which the occupation authorities declared an "emergency" and accused the Ukrainian military of the attack. Damage to the roadway was found on the spans, and 2 deaths were reported.

Ukraine's Security Service says all details of the explosion on the Crimean bridge will be disclosed after Ukraine wins the war against Russia.

Due to the night's incident, Vladimir Putin convened an emergency meeting, where he promised a "Russian response" to the explosion on the Crimean bridge.

Russian media claimed that the Ukrainian Defense Forces allegedly shelled the "land route" from Russia to Crimea over 20 times during the month.

Instead, Maxar Technologies published satellite images of the Crimean bridge after the nighttime explosion on July 17.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the UN that Russia was using the Crimean bridge to continue the war in Ukraine, and that it was built illegally.

Later, the Russian government said that the restoration of the Crimean bridge would take 2 months and cost RUB 1.3 billion.

On July 18, the Russian Defense Ministry again accused Ukraine of attacking the temporarily occupied Crimea with drones.