Blasts Reported in Crimea as Russia Conducts Nuclear Drills

Videos circulating on social media showed the aftermath of reported blasts in Crimea on Wednesday that were played down by Moscow's appointed authorities amid a spate of strikes against Russian targets.

The pro-Ukrainian Eastern European news outlet Nexta shared a clip of beachgoers in the foreground with smoke rising on the horizon. "In occupied #Feodosia, something is smoking in the harbor," the outlet posted on X (formerly Twitter).

The same video was shared by pro-Ukrainian user (((Tendar))), who wrote that the incident comes "only hours after another explosion in the north of the Russian-occupied peninsula of Crimea was reported near Dzhankoy," about 80 miles from the Crimean resort.

Ukrainian internal affairs adviser Anton Gerashchenko also posted the video, noting that residents of the town of Staryi Krym, about 16 miles inland from Feodosia, had reported explosions.

"Local authorities report that ammunition disposal at the firing range is taking place," he said.

Meanwhile, independent Russian language outlet Politika Strani posted on Telegram an image of smoke rising from the bay in Sevastopol, 150 miles west of Feodosia, which it said took place the day after explosions around Kerch Bridge temporarily closed the link between the occupied peninsula and Russia.

Local news outlet Sevkor reported how locals had noticed the smell of burnt rubber "enveloping almost the entire South Bay and Lenin Street" in Sevastopol, which is a key base for Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

But the governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said that the smoke was just a result of drills for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents.

"If you see smoke around Sevastopol Bay, then don't worry. This fleet is conducting a training exercise," he said in a statement. "Everything is calm in the city." Sevkor reported that its correspondent had confirmed Razvozhayev's explanation.

Similar reassurance was expressed about the smoke in Feodosia, with Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the head of Crimea, saying that it was due to "exercises carried out using a smoke screen."

"Do not panic," he said in the statement to citizens reported by Kerch Today, which also warned them not to fall victim to any "information attack" about its cause.

Ukraine has vowed to recapture the peninsula that Moscow has occupied since 2014, and Russian military targets in the region have been hit in recent months without Kyiv claiming direct responsibility.

Last week, a drone attack on the Olenegorsky Gornyak, near the Novorossiysk port in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, east of Crimea, was followed by a strike on the SIG oil tanker near the Kerch Bridge.

Also on Wednesday, dozens were injured following a blast at the Zagorsk optical mechanical plant in the city of Sergiev Posad around 45 miles northeast of the Russian capital.