Agencies-Gaza post
The U.S. denies attacking the Russian base in Crimea
The U.S. Department of Defense announced Friday that any U.S. weapons were not used to attack the Russian airbase in Crimea, adding that it was unaware of the causes of the site’s devastating explosions.
Ukrainian forces are believed to be behind the explosions, which took place Tuesday at the Sackey airbase in Ukraine’s Crimea, which has been annexed by Russia since 2014. The outbreaks destroyed eight aircraft and ammunition stockpiles.
No one has claimed responsibility for the explosions, and the causes of the explosions at the airbase, which is a significant starting point for Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, are not yet clear.
While Russia described what happened as an accident, experts say that satellite images and ground video recordings suggest it was an attack.
The United States provided Ukraine with large quantities of weapons and ammunition but did not provide it with the ability to strike Moscow-controlled territory from Kyiv-controlled territory.
A senior United States Department of Defense official told journalists that “Ukraine was not provided with anything that would allow or enable it to strike Crimea.”
The official ruled out that the explosions were a strike by intermediate-range precision-guided tactical missiles (ATACMS), which Kyiv had requested and which could be launched by the United States “HIMARS” missile systems located in Ukraine.
“It’s not ATACMS because we didn’t supply them with these missiles,” the official said.
The official stressed the Pentagon’s lack of information to confirm whether al-Qaeda was targeted by a missile attack or whether the explosions resulted from sabotage.
But he said that what happened “had a great impact on Russian air operations and on the elements of the Air Force.”
The British Defence Intelligence Service said Friday that the multiple explosions documented by people in the area in video recordings were “almost certainly caused by the explosion of up to four unenclosed ordnance storage areas”.
The Service stated that the explosions destroyed or severely damaged five Sukhoi 24 fighter bombers and three Sukhoi 30 multi-mission aircraft, but that the runway remained
