Latest Ukrainian military arsenal erupts in fire

Ukraine’s latest explosion at an ammunitions depot
erupted early this morning, prompting the evacuation of about 12,000 residents
of surrounding towns as fires continue to burn. The Ichnia ammunitions depot
is located in the Chernhiv region, about 175 km northeast of Kyiv. The first
explosions occurred at 3:30 a.m. at the arsenal near the village of
Druzhba  that occupies 682 hectares and stores 88,000 tons of ammunitions,
as reported by the pravda.com.ua news site.  Throughout the morning,
exploding  ammunition was video-recorded to be landing in surrounding
towns.

The Ichnia fire is the third fire at a Ukrainian
military arsenal in the last two years. The Balakliya artillery depot erupted
in fire in March 2017 in the Kharkiv region. Then the Kalynivka arsenal,
Ukraine’s largest ammunitions depot, was consumed by fire in September 2017 in
the Vinnytsia region. The Security Service of Ukraine said this morning it’s
considering sabotage as one of the causes of the Ichnia fire.

Zenon Zawada: Needless to
say, this fire is the latest embarrassment for the Poroshenko administration,
which has failed to improve security at Ukraine’s most sensitive military
arsenals. Certainly, his pro-Western political opponents (Yulia Tymoshenko)
will use this incident to attack his incompetence in defending the country
against foreign aggression and inability to build a professional military. His
Russian-oriented opponents will use it to call for peace (capitulation) with
Russia.

The causes of the explosions at Balakliya and
Kalynivka have yet to be officially determined by state investigators. They
have also yet to determine whether Russian agents were involved at all.
Regarding the Kalynivka explosion, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said in
October 2017 that his office’s main determination is sabotage. In an April
interview this year with the BBC news agency, Defense Minister Stepan Poltarak
said 10 military personnel have been punished for negligence related to the
Kalynivka explosion, though no official cause has been determined by a court.
Meanwhile, Kharkiv regional prosecutors said in August this year they are
continuing to investigate the Balakliya fire as arson.