The Russian Defense Ministry said an explosion at a Russian military airbase in Crimea on Tuesday had been caused by a detonation of aviation ammunition, and that there had been no casualties, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

It said there had been no attack, and no military equipment had been damaged.

About 30 people were evacuated from nearby houses, an adviser to Crimea's head Oleg Kryuchkov said on his Telegram channel.

(With inputs from Reuters)