Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov says that the country's top brass, including Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Viktor Muzhenko, are responsible for the fire at ammunition depots in the village of Kalynivka in Vinnytsia region.
"This is the responsibility of the entire vertical of those who are in charge of national defense, starting with the chief of the General Staff. We have shown that we are unable to protect strategic arsenals. So, there is a question about the quality of our national defense. We will never stop counting casualties and losses as long as top-ranking officers who fail to fulfill their duties properly are not held liable," Turchynov said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday, September 28.
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"To control the Armed Forces, a clear vertical with the commander-in-chief at its top has been built. Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are getting stronger and stronger every day. Only unity and stability in the state will lead to victory over the enemy," he wrote.
As UNIAN reported earlier, first reports about explosions of ammunition and a blaze in the arsenal of the Ministry of Defense near Kalynivka came at around 22:00 local time on September 26. According to the State Emergency Service, two people were injured in the incident, with more than 30,000 people having been evacuated from the nearby area. Law enforcers have qualified the incident at the ammunition depot as an act of subversive activity.