Fires At Ukrainian Depots Destroyed $2Bln Worth Of Munitions Over 2.5 Years - Official

Ammunition stockpiles worth more than $2 billion have been destroyed in fires at military depots across Ukraine over the past two and a half years, Serhiy Pashynskyi, the head of the Ukrainian parliament's national security and defense committee, said on Tuesday.

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2018) Ammunition stockpiles worth more than $2 billion have been destroyed in fires at military depots across Ukraine over the past two and a half years, Serhiy Pashynskyi, the head of the Ukrainian parliament's national security and defense committee, said on Tuesday.

The statement comes a week after a blast broke out at the ammunition depot located near the settlement of Ichnya in the Chernihiv region. According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the explosion intensity was one-two blasts per second, with no injuries or casualties reported. The Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine launched an investigation into the incident. According to the Ukrainian armed forces, the most likely cause of the fire is sabotage.

"I officially inform you that munitions worth more than $2 billion have been destroyed over the past two and a half years [across Ukraine] � from Svatove to Ichnya," Pashynskyi said in parliament.

Over the past years, fires at military depots have repeatedly occurred in Ukraine. In October 2015, the fire at the depot in the Kiev-controlled city of Svatove in Luhansk region claimed lives of four people and injured 16 others. According to the Military Prosecutor's Office, negligence by officials was the cause of the incident.

In September, 2017, a fire started at an ammunition depot in Kalinovka, Vinnytsia region. More than 30,000 people were evacuated from Kalinovka and the surrounding villages, two were injured. Media reported that missiles of Smerch, Uragan and Grad missile launchers were stored in the warehouse. About one-third of the depot's munitions were destroyed in the fire.

According to the Ukrainian media, the ammunition depot in Ichnya, which was rocked by a blaze last week, is one of the largest in the country, occupying 682 hectares (1,685 acres) of land.