Footage showing large lines of cars in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, has gone viral on social media.

As the British newspaper The Telegraph reports, the cars that created long convoys are Russian civilians who decided to escape from the peninsula after yesterday's giant explosions at the Russian military air base Saki in the west of Crimea.

Although official Kiev is silent on the explosions at the Russian military base in Crimea, a senior Ukrainian official said today, on condition of anonymity, that Ukrainian special forces were responsible for the violent explosions that destroyed the Ukrainian base.

Crimea is a popular tourist destination for Russians, especially in summer,

reports .

"I don't want to leave Crimea.

It's so beautiful here.

I'm used to it here, it was like we were at home.

Everything was so beautiful," said a Russian woman who left Crimea today.

The Ukrainian air force said on Wednesday that nine Russian warplanes were destroyed in a series of deadly explosions at an airbase in Crimea, amid speculation that the explosions were the result of a Ukrainian attack that would represent a significant escalation in the war.

Otherwise, Russia has continued today with bombings, causing casualties and material damage.