Depot Fire in Ukraine's Kharkiv Caused by Sabotage - Military Prosecutor

Ukrainian military prosecutor Anatolii Matios commented on a recent fire caused by explosions at an ammunition depot in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Region.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Sabotage was said to be the cause of explosions followed by fire at an ammunition depot in the city of Balakliia in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Region, causing their detonation, the country's military prosecutor said Thursday.

"As a result of sabotage, an explosion occurred (fire broke out) at 03:02 a.m. [01:02 GMT] at several rocket and artillery weapons storage sites (125 and 152 mm tank and artillery shells), which caused the detonation of ammunition," Anatolii Matios wrote on his Facebook page.

Moreover, a perimeter has been set up around a 4.3-mile detonation zone caused by fire at an arms depot in the city of Balakliia in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Region, the Ukrainian military prosecutor added.

"A conventional 7-kilometer boundary from ammunition projection has been set up from the detonation zone by way of blocking," Anatolii Matios wrote on his Facebook page.

There is no indication yet that a fire caused by explosions at an ammunition depot in the city of Balakliia in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Region has led to human casualties, the Ukrainian military prosecutor added.

"There is no data on human casualties," he wrote on his Facebook page of the.

Matios said regional authorities and law enforcement authorities have been dispatched to the scene, in addition to a commission from Kiev under the Ukrainian deputy defense minister for armaments' command.

The ammunition depot in the city of Balakliia in Ukraine's Kharkiv Region stored 138,000 metric tonnes of shells where a fire erupted caused by explosions, the Anatolii Matios also added.

"The total area of the arsenal is 368 hectares (909 acres) and 138,000 tonnes of ammunition," he wrote on his Facebook page.

Matios said an unmanned aerial vehicle is ready for deployment to establish the area of the damage.