Images posted on social media showed clouds of smoke rising behind houses and the sound of multiple explosions can be heard in the video footage. Smoke from the scene rose high enough to be seen from nearby beaches.

The Head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov acknowledged an incident had taken place in Novofedorovka and said he would investigate the situation. Hospitals in the Saki region and the nearby resort city of Evpatoria despatched ambulances, RIA Novosti reported.

One person has been killed in a series of explosions that rocked a Russian military airfield in Crimea on Tuesday afternoon, the region's governor has revealed. Nine more people have sustained minor injuries as a result of the incident, according to the local health ministry.

Officials in Moscow earlier put the blasts down to an accidental detonation of ammunition and denied they had been caused by an enemy attack.

Sergey Aksyonov, the head of Crimea, who is at the Saki airfield, posted a video on his Telegram channel, saying that "unfortunately, now official information is coming in, unfortunately, we have one fatality." The official pledged to issue updates on social media if and when more details are established.

Crimea's health ministry initially confirmed that five people injured in the incident, including a child, have been hospitalized, with their condition being described as non-life-threatening. That number was revised up to nine in a later update.

Aksyonov also urged everyone to only seek and accept official comments, such as those issued by Russia's defense ministry, regarding the cause of the blasts. The official went on to give assurances that the "number of ambulances [working at the scene] is sufficient," and describes the situation as "under control."

The Crimean governor also explained that householders in the immediate vicinity of the airfield will be relocated. On top of this, Aksyonov also promised that no local resident who has been affected by the blasts will be left "without help."

The first reports of several blasts in the village of Novofyodorovka, many accompanied by eyewitness footage, appeared on several Russian Telegram channels at around 3pm local time. The incident was later confirmed by Crimean authorities and eventually by the defense ministry in Moscow as well.

Commenting on the explosions in Crimea on Tuesday, Ukraine's defense ministry said that it has been unable to ascertain the cause of the fire that led to the incident. Officials in Kiev, however, did name a "violation of fire safety regulations" as the most likely reason behind the fire.

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Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky wants the West to seek inspiration from German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claimed on Tuesday.

Medvedev, who now holds the position of deputy chair of the Russian national security council, blasted Zelensky over his call for the collective punishment of Russians.

The NATO-backed leader has called for all Russians - regardless of their leanings or circumstances - to be deported from Western countries.

"Adolf Hitler tried to implement such ideas about an entire people," the Russian official remarked. "Any more questions about the nature of the Ukrainian authorities?"

Nazi Germany's extermination of undesirable groups of people, including Jews, Roma, LGBT, disabled individuals and communists, was among the most extreme examples of collective punishment in history.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has urged Schengen countries to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens.

"Stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right," Kallas wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. She was apparently unaware that around 75% of Russia's population are already on the continent.

The EU suspended air travel from Russia following the launch of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine in late February, but Schengen Area countries have continued to issue visas to Russians, she wrote.

Estonia, Latvia and Finland, which border Russia, have therefore been forced to "carry the burden" as "sole access points" into the bloc for Russian citizens, Kallas explained — seemingly forgetting Poland and Lithuania — adding that it was "time to end tourism from Russia now."

The Schengen agreement allows for border-free travel among 26 European countries. These include most EU member states, with the exception of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Ireland. The non-EU countries in the pact are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The Estonian prime minister's tweet followed a call by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky for all Russians to be banned from traveling to the West for at least a year.

The French Defense Ministry has banned Russian nationals from entering the medieval royal residence of Chateau de Vincennes, Agence France Presse (AFP) has learned. The castle east of Paris is the headquarters of the Defense Historical Service, the French ministry's archive.

The ministry issued an internal directive restricting access for Russians to all military facilities, including the historic site, after Russia attacked Ukraine, AFP reported on Monday, citing a source.

The revelation emerged after the news agency followed up on a story of two Russian women, who were denied entry to the chateau in late July. One of them said the guards checked their passports before telling them they could not enter due to their nationality.

The woman is a journalist and said she left her home country five months ago because of the conflict with Ukraine, the report said.

The news agency's source in the Defense Ministry said journalists wishing to visit the archive could still apply for special permission.

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New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman released photos on Monday apparently showing former President Donald Trump's handwritten notes flushed down two toilets, supposedly in violation of White House protocol. Trump himself ridiculed Haberman, and his office called her scoop "desperate."

Published by Axios on Monday, the photos show two torn-up wads of notes, apparently in Trump's handwriting, lodged in a pair of toilets, one in the White House and the other from an overseas trip.

The names 'Rogers' and 'Stefanik' are visible on the shredded notes, likely referencing Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama and Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York.

Trump has long been suspected of mishandling White House documents and briefing papers, with the Justice Department in May reportedly opening a probe into 15 boxes of letters, mementos and classified files that the former president is believed to have taken to his Florida residence after leaving Washington last year.

Haberman, who released the latest photos amid a promotional campaign for her upcoming book on Trump, claimed in February that Trump would clog White House toilets with shredded papers, apparently in violation of the Presidential Records Act.

Referring to Haberman as "Maggot," Trump at the time said that her claims were "categorically untrue and simply made up by a reporter in order to get publicity for a mostly fictitious book."