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Reuters
You could see smoke rising from several kilometers
Explosions and gunfire hit an ammunition depot in Ukraine due to a possible act of sabotage, officials said, resulting in the evacuation of thousands of people.
Videos on social media showed the fire and explosions on the horizon near Ichnya, in the Chernihiv region.
About 12,000 people were displaced from the depot, about 176 km northeast of the capital Kiev, emergency services said.
There were no casualties.
Deputy commander of the staff, Rodyon Tymoshenko, said at a press conference that the incident had started with four explosions in the depot.
"The intensity of the explosions suggests that it was probably sabotage," he said.
The security services are now investigating the incident.
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Emergency Service of the State of Ukraine / Reuters
Authorities evacuated residents of the area surrounding the base
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EPA
Debris, including this hand grenade, was thrown into the air
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman had already tweeted that the local authorities would provide housing for the evacuees and that emergency services were available to the people.
The first explosion at the base occurred around 0330 local time (0030 GMT).
From 04:22, an airspace closure within a radius of 20 km came into force, announced the emergency services. Rail and road links in the region are also suspended and gas and electricity supplies have been interrupted.
Explosions of ammunition dumps have already taken place in Ukraine, as the country continues its fight against pro-Russian separatists in its eastern regions.
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In September 2017, 28,000 people were evacuated after a huge fire at an arms depot in central Ukraine. In March of the same year, an ammunition depot on a base near Kharkiv was the victim of a series of explosions.
Moscow denies sending troops and arms to help the separatists in the conflict, but admits that Russian "volunteers" are helping the rebels.
Ukraine points the finger
By Jonah Fisher, BBC News, Kiev
Explosions of ammunition depots are unfortunately frequent here.
This is partly due to the large number of Soviet-era ammunition that Ukraine still possesses, and partly because much of this ammunition is poorly stored, or even stored in crates in the open instead. than underground.
Whenever another deposit breaks up, the question arises whether poor storage is the fault or whether more sinister forces are involved.
This time, the Ministry of Defense only needed seven hours from the first explosion to be heard and put forward its arguments.
Information was presented that very firmly guided the public of military negligence towards the idea that it was a sabotage.
Sabotage in the Ukrainian context is almost always a thinly veiled suggestion that Russia, directly or through its rebel proxy, is responsible.
