Logo

KIEV — Around 10,000 people were evacuated after a fire and explosions hit a defense ministry ammunition depot 109 miles east of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, early Tuesday, officials said.

There was no mention of any casualties and it was not immediately clear whether the explosions were an accident or sabotage.

The airspace in a 12-mile radius has been closed and road and rail transport suspended. Hundreds of people have been deployed to the site, a statement by the emergency services said, and the head of Ukraine’s armed forces has gone there.

There have been several large fires at ammunition and weapons depots in recent years, an additional drain on Ukraine’s military, which has been fighting Russian-backed separatists in eastern regions since 2014.

“About 10 thousand people were evacuated,” the statement by the emergency services said. “From 04:22 am (0122 GMT) the airspace within a radius of 20 km has been closed. The movement of rail and road transport is suspended.”

Last year, massive explosions at a military depot in the Vynnytsya region, 270 km (167 miles) west of Kiev, forced authorities to evacuate 24,000 people.

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy