A massive ammunition depot is on fire in Kalynivka, near the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsya some 270 kilometers southwest of Kyiv.
Locals posted videos on the night of Sept. 26 showing massive fire and reported on social media about “extremely loud explosions” near Vinnytsya.
The reports indicate that the fire is taking place at the ammunition depot No. 48, one of the biggest in Ukraine, where artillery and aircraft ammunition are stored.
Two special armored firetrucks were deployed to put out the fire, according to the police.
Three nearby villages are being evacuated, the National Police spokesman Yaroslav Trakalo told Ukrainska Pravda. Authorities blocked the highway leading from Vinnytsya to Kyiv.
The videos shot by the citizens of Vinnytsya on the night of Sept. 26 show a massive fire taking place at the ammunition depot in Kalynivka village near the city. (Youtube)
Ukrainian state railway company Ukrzaliznytsya reported closing the railways near the burning depot and ordering some 30 trains to change their routes. State aviation service banned flights above the area.
Authorities didn’t yet say if the fire was caused by arson.
In the past two years, several ammunition depots in Ukraine were destroyed or damaged as a result of arson. The latest fire took place on Sept. 22 at an ammunition depot near Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast. The arsonist wasn’t found yet.
In March, Ukraine’s most important ammunition depot in Balakliya in Kharkiv Oblast was hit by a massive fire, leading to one death and a loss of strategic stock of weapons.
