Blasts hit Ukraine munitions depot

UKRAINE is probing a series of explosions that hit a munitions depot in the country’s east overnight as the military blamed the incident on an act of sabotage.

“A fire broke out . . . as a result of an act of sabotage at a depot in the town of Balakliya where missiles and munitions were kept,” chief military prosecutor Anatoliy Matios said.

“The fire led to the detonation of munitions.”

Ukraine’s security services said they had opened an investigation into a suspected act of diversion, while military prosecutors said they had launched a criminal case of possible negligence by servicemen.

Matios said witnesses had heard a sound resembling that of a drone in flight before the blasts began.

Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said authorities were considering the theory that explosive devices dropped from an unmanned aerial vehicle could have caused the fire, Interfax Ukraine news agency reported.

As of yesterday afternoon, 20 000 people living within a 10km radius of the depot had been evacuated, presidential spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko wrote on Facebook.

He said there appeared to be no casualties in the explosions.

An AFP reporter said local authorities had blocked a road into Balakliya, which is some 150km from eastern Ukraine’s rebel-held regions.

The crackling sound of detonations thought to be exploding munitions could be heard 20km away.

Matios said it was impossible to extinguish the fire at present because of the continuing detonations.

Photographs published by the emergencies ministry showed thick smoke billowing from the depot, forming a large cloud over Soviet-era apartment buildings.

President Petro Poroshenko had ordered increased security controls at Ukraine’s military facilities, Tsegolko said. – AFP