A major Russian military airbase in Crimea has come under attack, according to local reports, sparking fresh fears Putin could launch a nuclear attack.
Residents living close to the Dzhankoy airfield reported hearing explosions in the vicinity.
Videos circulating on social media channels show what appear to be rockets striking the airbase, with huge balls of flames rising into the night’s sky.
Russian air defence systems can also be seen firing missiles towards the incoming projectiles.
Roads leading to the military base have been closed by the local authorities, who so far have refused to give a reason for the closure.
The airbase is the main logistics hub of the Russian army in Crimea and a landing place for attack helicopters.
It is home to the 39th helicopter regiment of the 4th Air Force and serves as the headquarters of the Air Defence Command of the Southern Military District.
Three air squadrons are also stationed at the airbase.
Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 and has been the focus of many daring Ukrainian attacks in the past.
The Kerch bridge, which connects the peninsula with the Russian main land has in particular been targeted by Ukrainian drone and missile attacks.
The Russians appear to be prepared to go to extreme lengths to ensure they hold on to the peninsula, which is the main base for its Black Sea Fleet.
The Kremlin has threatened to go nuclear if Ukraine’s army attempts to recapture the Crimea.
Elon Musk told his biographer that the Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov informed him that Moscow would not hesitate to use its nuclear weapons to repel any future Ukrainian attack.
Walter Isaacson wrote in his blockbuster book Elon Musk: “The ambassador had explicitly told him [Musk] that a Ukrainian attack on Crimea would lead to a nuclear response.”
Musk initially went all out to help the Ukrainian army after Russia invaded in February 2022.
He started supplying Ukraine with Starlink dishes, and later teamed up with USAID to rush thousands more satellite broadband transceivers to Kyiv.
