The US Pentagon has assured that it has no information on the cause of the recent explosions at a Russian base in Crimea, whose annexation by Russia in 2014 has not been recognized by the international community. “We have nothing to indicate whether there was a missile launch or not, I cannot say whether there was sabotage or not”a senior US military official told reporters on Friday, August 13. “I do not know.”
The Russian military airport of Saki was heavily damaged on Tuesday by a series of explosions presented as accidental by Moscow, but which experts attribute to an attack by Ukrainian forces. kyiv did not claim responsibility for this attack and the multiple explosions, filmed by witnesses who later posted videos on social networks, remain unexplained.
“What I can tell you is that it wasn’t an ATACMS strike, because we didn’t give them ATACMS”, added this senior officer who requested anonymity, in reference to tactical ballistic missiles with a range of 300 km, which kyiv is trying to convince Washington to provide. Compatible with the Himars precision artillery systems already available to the Ukrainian forces, these missiles would allow kyiv to strike deep targets in territory controlled by Moscow, which the United States seeks to avoid for fear of an extension of the conflict with NATO countries.
“We have not provided them with anything that enables or helps them to strike Crimea”, noted the senior military official. However, he stressed that the United States does not control the Ukrainian army. “What we want the Ukrainians to do is fight the Russians the way they want”he said. “We told them in the past that we were giving them ammunition to fight the Russians in Ukraine”he added. “Other than that, it’s a Ukrainian war. They pick the targets.”
Without attributing the attack to Ukrainian forces, the senior officer stressed that she had a “rather significant impact” on the Russian Air Force. British military intelligence estimated on Friday that at least five Russian Su-24 fighter-bombers and three SU-30 multirole aircraft were destroyed or heavily damaged, but the airstrip remained “most likely” usable. “Saki was mainly a base for aircraft of the Russian Black Sea Fleet”military intelligence tweeted. “The naval air capabilities of the fleet are now greatly reduced.”