This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39363416
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Ukraine munitions blasts prompt mass evacuations | Ukraine munitions blasts prompt mass evacuations |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Some 20,000 people are being evacuated after a series of explosions at a massive arms depot in eastern Ukraine described by officials as sabotage. | Some 20,000 people are being evacuated after a series of explosions at a massive arms depot in eastern Ukraine described by officials as sabotage. |
The base in Balakliya, near Kharkiv, is around 100km (60 miles) from fighting against Russian-backed separatists. | The base in Balakliya, near Kharkiv, is around 100km (60 miles) from fighting against Russian-backed separatists. |
The dump is used to store thousands of tonnes of ammunition including missiles and artillery weapons. | The dump is used to store thousands of tonnes of ammunition including missiles and artillery weapons. |
Rescue teams are overseeing a huge evacuation effort for people living in the city and nearby villages. | Rescue teams are overseeing a huge evacuation effort for people living in the city and nearby villages. |
The total area of the dump spans more than 350 hectares, the military says. | The total area of the dump spans more than 350 hectares, the military says. |
Munitions from the depot are used to supply military units in the conflict zone in nearby Luhansk and Donetsk, reports say. | |
The authorities are investigating various ways the explosions may have been caused, Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said, including the possibility of an explosive device being dropped from a drone. | |
A drone was reported to have been used an earlier attempt to set the facility on fire in December 2015. | |
Mr Poltorak said that there were no reports that civilians or serviceman had been killed or injured in the latest incident and that airspace had been closed within a 50km (31 miles) radius of Balakliya. | |
More than 9,700 people have died in the conflict which erupted in 2014 when Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula. Pro-Russian rebels later launched an insurgency in the east. |