Kyiv says 9 Russian planes destroyed in blast

Blast ar Russia's Crimea airport. Reuters via DW News

Ukraine claims that Russia lost nine planes in a blast that rocked a Russian airbase on the Crimean Peninsula. The G7 has criticized Russia's occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. 

The Ukrainian air force says that nine Russian warplanes were destroyed in massive explosions at an air base on the Crimean Peninsula, without officially claiming responsibility for the attack.

Powerful explosions rocked the Saki air base on the Black Sea on Tuesday, and sent a tower of smoke clouds over the landscape.

Russia has denied any aircraft were damaged or that any attack took place, claiming munitions at the base caught fire and exploded.

While Ukrainian officials have stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility for the explosions, they have ridiculed Russia's explanation.

Officials in Moscow have long said any attack on Crimea would trigger massive retaliation from Russia, including strikes on "decision-making centers" in Kyiv.

In his nightly video address several hours after the blasts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to retake the occupied Crimean peninsula. - DW News