20,000 people evacuated as "sabotaged" munitions store burns in Ukraine

By bne IntelliNews March 23, 2017

About 20,000 people have been evacuated following explosions at Ukraine's largest arms depot in Balakliya near the eastern city of Kharkiv after what was claimed to be an act of sabotage.

The base in Balakliya is used for storing munitions such as missiles and artillery shells and is located around 100km from the territory where fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian rebels has been going on over the last three years.

Reportedly, munitions from the depot are supplied to Ukrainian forces operating in the conflict zone.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's chief military prosecutor Anatoly Matios wrote on his Facebook account that the explosions were the result of sabotage.

In December 2015, there was already an attempt to set the Balakliya depot on fire.

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