One person has died after a series of explosions at a Russian military airbase near tourist centers in the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Witnesses said they heard at least 12 explosions at around 3.20pm local time (1.20pm BST) from the Saky base on the west coast.
There was speculation that the base had been hit by missiles, but Russia said the munition had detonated.
Videos posted on social media showed people fleeing a beach as flames and plumes of smoke rose from various locations.
Witnesses also reported a fire on a runway and damage to nearby houses, Crimea Today News said on Telegram.
Image: Smoke can be seen rising from a beach near the air base
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Crimea’s health department said one civilian had been killed, while another person had been treated in hospital for moderate injuries and five others suffered minor injuries.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and used it as a launch pad for its neighbor’s invasion in February.
Russian warplanes have used the base to attack areas of southern Ukraine.
Image: Smoke was seen rising from the direction of the air base
Moscow said the explosions were the detonation of stored ammunition and had not been caused by an attack.
Russia’s main news agencies quoted an unnamed ministry source as saying that “only a violation of fire safety requirements is considered the main reason for the explosion of several ammunition stores at the Saky airfield.”
The source added: “There are no signs, evidence or, much less, facts (indicating) a deliberate impact on ammunition stores.”
There were suggestions on Ukrainian social media, however, that the base had been hit by long-range missiles fired from Ukraine.
In an apparently sarcastic post on Facebook, the Ukrainian defense ministry said: “The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine cannot establish the cause of the fire, but once again reminds of fire safety rules and the ban on smoking in unspecified locations.”
It added: “We cannot rule out that the occupants ‘accidentally’ found some characteristic ‘badge’, ‘business card’ or even ‘DNA’.”
Since the war began, Russia has reported numerous fires and explosions at ammunition storage sites on its territory near the border with Ukraine, blaming some of them on Ukrainian attacks.
Ukraine has not commented.