Screenshot Reuters
Someone is blowing up Ukrainian arms depots again. Explosions rocked a vast storage of weapons reminiscent of the magnificent explosions which took place the last time this happened in the Vynnytsya region, which required the evacuation of 24,000 people. The Ukrainian government immediately suspected sabotage and accused Russia, citing tensions over the split within the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Churches.
The explosions occurred at the ammo depot near Ichnia in Chernihiv Oblast, about 100 miles east of Kiev. The arsenal, covering a little more than a quarter of a square mile, has 176,000 pounds of ammunition. Authorities also cut off electricity and gas supplies to the area and closed about 20 miles of airspace around the site, as the State of Emergency Service of Ukraine launches operation to stop the fire.
The explosions have led to evacuations of 12,000 people so far, including patients from hospitals, authorities said, reported UPI.
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“At present, due to explosions, the military prosecutor’s office of the Central Region of Ukraine has started criminal proceedings under Part 3 of Article 425 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (careless attitude to military service),” a military prosecutor’s office of the Central Region of Ukraine said.
“Two simultaneous explosions, and after five minutes two more explosions (in another part of the depot) suggest it was military sabotage,” Defence Ministry spokesman Rodion Tymoshenko said at a press briefing, added Reuters.
“The rumble started at 3 a.m. It rumbled three times, then I woke up and ran to my family and started waking them up,” said Valentyna Petrenko, a resident in the nearby village of Druzhba.
“We crept into the basement. We took documents, papers, everything we could, blankets, pillows and stayed in the basement,” wrote Reuters.
Explosion at military warehouses in Ichnya, Chernyhiv region: 30kms no fly zone declared, transportation in area halted, evacuation ongoing https://t.co/BRlIB9x4d8 pic.twitter.com/LBpnmnIm94 via @MVS_UA #Ukraine
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