Explosions in Crimea, Belgorod, as Kremlin Says It's Vulnerable to Attacks

Explosions were heard on Thursday morning in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Vladimir Putin, and in Belgorod, near Russia's border with Ukraine, as the Kremlin said it was vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov addressed reporters shortly after Russia said it downed a drone on Thursday over the Black Sea in the waters of Sevastopol, the largest city on the Crimean peninsula.

"There are certainly risks because the Ukrainian side continues its policy of organizing terrorist attacks. But, on the other hand, information we get indicates that effective countermeasures are being taken," Peskov said.

The governor of Sevastopol, home to a Russian naval base, said that a Black Sea Fleet ship shot down a drone over the sea, causing an explosion. Russia's military "worked well" in destroying the drone, he said on his Telegram channel.

In response, regional authorities issued a high, "yellow" level of terrorist threat in Crimea, which was annexed by Putin in 2014.

Local news outlets reported a power explosion hundred over a central part of Sevastopol, causing glass windows to shake. The Crimean Wind Telegram channel, citing local residents, reported that in some areas "car alarms went off from the explosion."

Elsewhere, in the Belgorod region, located near to Russia's border with Ukraine, local media reported explosions on Thursday morning.

Ukrainian news outlet 24tv.ua reported that local residents heard an explosion, and later, a massive fire broke out in the Yakovlevsky district of the Belgorod region. The outlet published a video that shows a thick black plume of smoke rising into the sky.

Local officials have yet to comment on the incidents.

Peskov's remarks on Thursday come amid reports that Russians are fleeing Crimea to the neighboring Russian region of Krasnodar because they fear Ukraine will eventually liberate the Black Sea peninsula.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to take back Crimea during a televised address on August 29, saying that Ukraine's military had "kept the goal" of recapturing Crimea since it was annexed.

Refat Chubarov, a Crimean Tatar leader, told Ukraine's Radio NV in a video published last month that he believes the Kremlin will begin to disintegrate should Ukraine recapture Crimea.

The British Ministry of Defence assessed on November 18 that Russia is regrouping its forces in preparation for a potential Ukrainian push into the peninsula. It said Russian units have constructed new trench systems near the border of Crimea.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's foreign ministry for comment.

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