KYIV, Ukraine — Fires burned and ammunition exploded at a depot in Crimea on Wednesday, a day after the latest suspected Ukrainian attack on a military site in the Russia-annexed peninsula, highlighting the challenges facing Moscow.
The peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014, was once a secure base that Moscow's forces have used to launch attacks — and it was a staging ground for the start of the Feb. 24 invasion. But in recent days, explosions have destroyed several Russian planes at an air base in Crimea, and munitions blew up Tuesday.
Ukrainian authorities have stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alluded to Ukrainian attacks behind enemy lines after the most recent blasts Tuesday while Russia blamed “sabotage.”
The spate of attacks represented the latest setback for Moscow, which began its invasion with hopes of taking the capital of Kyiv and much of the country in a lightning blitz but soon became bogged down in the face of fiercer than expected resistance from Ukrainian forces.
As the war nears the half-year mark, the sides are now engaged in a war of attrition, fighting village to village, largely in the country's east. The attacks in Crimea could open a new front that would represent a significant escalation in the war and further stretch Russia's military resources.
“Russian commanders will highly likely be increasingly concerned with the…
