ISW outlines possible reasons for night explosions in occupied Crimea

There is currently no exact information about the origin and consequences of the explosions in the temporarily occupied Crimea – in Sevastopol, around Belbek Airbase, and in Kerch – which were reported on the evening of August 18, but the Institute for the Study of War outlined possible reasons.

This is stated in the report of the US Institute for the Study of War.

“It is unclear at the time of publication whether the reported explosions are due to Ukrainian attacks or reconnaissance, poor Russian handling of military equipment, successful Russian air defenses, or nervous Russian defenders who are likely steeling themselves for additional attacks in areas that the Russian military had believed until now to be out of the range of Ukrainian forces,” reads the report as of the evening of August 18.

It is noted that the ISW cannot independently verify whether Russian air defenses shot down a Ukrainian UAV, or whether any UAV was present in Kerch or Belbek.

The analysts consider that the Ukrainian forces will likely continue their campaign to strike Russian military targets in Russian-occupied Crimea to degrade Russian logistics capabilities and degrade Russian capabilities to sustain operations on the west bank of the Dnipro River.

Moreover, the ISW once again draws attention to the fact that the Russian occupiers intend to commit a provocation at the ZNPP and blame Ukraine for this.

“The Russian Ministry of Defense appears to be setting information conditions to blame Ukrainian forces for future false flag operations at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP),” the report says.

For the first time since July 6, the ISW’s report mentions no Russia’s territorial gains.

As reported, a number of explosions rang out in the temporarily occupied Crimea on Thursday evening, including near military facilities.

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