bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

One of Ukraine’s largest arms depots caught fire and erupted in a series of massive explosions in what prosecutors said Wednesday was a likely act of “sabotage” that forced the evacuation of more than 30,000 people.
It was the second major incident affecting a large Ukrainian weapons warehouse this year.
The Ukraine military prosecutor’s office said it had opened an investigation into “sabotage at a military facility” in the central Vinnytsia region.
“We have to learn to defend our strategic facilities from sabotage groups,” President Petro Poroshenko said during an emergency evening meeting of his top military commanders.

WATCH: Thousands evacuated in Ukraine as ammunition depot explodes https://t.co/HuyBagHdkj via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/xJFAghYolJ
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) September 27, 2017

<![CDATA[// ><!]]>

“Are their any other versions?” he asked in comments issued by his office.
The pro-Western leader’s statement hinted strongly at possible involvement by Russia or separatist militias in eastern Ukraine.
But Poroshenko made no direct mention of the Kremlin and added only vaguely that “we will no longer put up with these events”.
Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman also seemed to imply Kremlin involvement in the explosions which shook the town of Kalynivka, about 175 kilometres southwest of Kiev.
“This is the arsenal of the Ukrainian army, and I think it was no accident that it was destroyed,” Groysman said from the scene of the blasts.
Initial reports mentioned no fatalities and only two minor injuries from the raging explosions of heavy munitions and air defence missiles at the site.
The Vinnytsia regional administration more than doubled the military’s initial estimate of the amount of munitions stored in the depot to 188,000 tonnes.
General staff spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov said that the arms storage warehouse was “one of the country’s largest”.


Kalynivka’s 20,000 residents largely kept off the streets as missiles and shells shot off in all directions and shattered parts of people’s homes
“We suffered heavy damage,” local resident Antonina said.
“Some homes had their windows and doors completely blown out,” she said.
The defence ministry reported that the various shells and missiles had ceased exploding and the situation had been brought under control by Wednesday night.
The Ukrainian army’s high command wrote on Facebook that the fire broke out at around 10pm Tuesday. 
The flames caused artillery shells at the warehouse to explode one after the other in harrowing orange balls of fire that lit up the night sky and shook the ground.
The national police said more than 30,000 people had been evacuated from areas in the immediate vicinity of the depot.
“In addition, 180 patients were evacuated from Vinnytsia area hospitals,” Ukraine’s emergency ministry said.
Officials also shut down surrounding airspace as a precaution to prevent exploding missiles from hitting passing commercial jets.
In March, a major arms warehouse explosion killed one person in the eastern town of Balakliya.
At the time Kiev authorities pointed the finger at Moscow and Russian-backed militias fighting Ukrainian troops in a war which broke out in April 2014 and has claimed more than 10,000 lives.
Some officials in Kiev then mooted the possibility that the March fire was caused by explosives dropped from a drone.
Both Moscow and the Russian-backed insurgents dismissed the charge outright, brushing it off as propaganda.
Vinnytsia lies nearly 700 kilometres west of the war zone.
Russia vehemently denies plotting and backing Ukraine’s eastern conflict and refers to the fighting as a “civil war” – a term that particularly irritates Kiev.

Thousands flee huge explosions at Ukraine arms depot, blamed on sabotage

Ukraine’s pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko strongly hinted at Russian involvement in the incident

epa06229570 Clouds of smoke and fire billow from the ammunition depot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the city of Kalynivka not far from Vinnytsia city, Ukraine, 27 September 2017. The ammunition depot caught fire on Tuesday evening, which has been followed by explosions of bombs, shells and other types of ammunition. The first explosions were reported at 22:00 local time on Tuesday, September 26. EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

epa06229568 Clouds of smoke and fire billow from the ammunition depot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the city of Kalynivka not far from Vinnytsia city, Ukraine, 27 September 2017. The ammunition depot caught fire on Tuesday evening, which has been followed by explosions of bombs, shells and other types of ammunition. The first explosions were reported at 22:00 local time on Tuesday, September 26. EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

Residents evacuated from villages located near a military ammunitions depot that exploded are seen in the school gymnasium in Vinnytsia, Ukraine September 27, 2017. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

epa06229702 A damaged building following an explosion at a ammunition depot in Kalynivka city, not far from Vinnytsia, Ukraine, 27 September 2017. Ammunition depots in the town of Kalynivka in Vinnytsia region caught fire on Tuesday evening, causing explosions of bombs, shells and other types of ammunition. The first explosions were reported at 22:00 local time on Tuesday, September 26. The depots occupy 600 ha – 1,000 ha, according to different sources as local media report. EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

Clouds of smoke and fire billow from explosions at the ammunition depot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the city of Kalynivka on Wednesday evening. Photo: EPA

17 killed in huge factory explosions in China

The scene of the blast in Foshan. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The factory has been extensively damaged and injured taken to three hospitals. Photo: SCMP Pictures

A ceiling that collapsed in the blast. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Injured workers outside the building. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Workers at the site after the blast. Photo: SCMP Pictures

An aerial view of the site. Photo: SCMP Pictures

August 27: 12 executives, suspects arrested over Tianjin explosions; Obama to raise cybersecurity issue on Xi's US visit

Rescuers clean up the blast site in Tianjin, north China. Photo: Xinhua

Has China failed to learn the lessons of deadly Tianjin explosions?

An aerial view of the aftermath of the huge explosions and fire that rocked the port city of Tianjin, China, in August 2015. Photo: EPA

Zhang Mengfan, 23, a previous fire-fighter who survived last year's Tianjin explosion, talks during an interview in Tianjin on Jul 28, 2016. A big blast took place at the Binhai New District in Tianjin on Aug. 12, 2015. JULl16 SCMP/Simon Song

Mrs. He, in her 40s, looks at her second son at home at Harbour+, the closest residential building to last year's explosion site in Tianjin on Jul 28, 2016. A big blast took place at the Binhai New District in Tianjin on Aug. 12, 2015. Mrs He's second son was three months old when the explosion took place. 28JULl16 SCMP/Simon Song

Workers fill up the pit caused by last year's explosion in Tianjin on Jul 28, 2016. A big blast took place at the Binhai New District in Tianjin on Aug. 12, 2015. JULl16 SCMP/Simon Song

A view of explosion site in Binhai New District, in Tianjin, on Jul 29, 2016. A big blast took place at the Binhai New District in Tianjin on Aug. 12, 2015. JULl16 Photo by Simon Song tianjinoneyear

Brand new motor vehicles are damaged in the explosion in Binhai New District, in Tianjin. Pic taken on Aug. 16, 2015. (China Foto Press)

INFOGRAPHIC: The toxic cocktail in warehouse at centre of fatal Tianjin explosions

‘Is this a nuclear bomb?’: drone captures apocalyptic scenes in Tianjin, China, after industrial explosions

Taking on the look of a war zone or apocalyptic film, the gutted remains of an industrial area in Tianjin, China. Photo: Beijing Youth Daily

Fires were still burning after dawn. Photo: Beijing Youth Daily

Testament to the devastation, eyewitnesses compared the strength of the blasts to military bombs. Photo: Beijing Youth Daily

Shell-shocked residents posted photos of their homes, with unhinged doors and other damage. Photo: Beijing Youth Daily

News

World

Russia & Central Asia

Ukraine’s pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko strongly hinted at Russian involvement in the incident


Thousands flee huge explosions at Ukraine arms depot, blamed on sabotage

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ukraine’s pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko strongly hinted at Russian involvement in the incident

Ukraine’s pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko strongly hinted at Russian involvement in the incident