Ukraine loses ammo worth $1 bln in military depot fire near Kharkiv – MP

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense Serhiy Pashynskiy spoke about the losses caused by a fire at Ukraine's largest military munitions depot in the town of Balaklia, Kharkiv region.

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"What is the nature of Balaklia tragedy? There were tens of thousands of combat-ready munition pieces being stored there and tens of thousands of disabled ammo. When that chain reaction started, we lost some $1 billion worth of ammo, which is unacceptable because our country is not so rich to afford such things," he told TV Channel 5.

Read alsoStoltenberg: NATO provides demining equipment to Ukraine after Balaklia blastsAs UNIAN reported earlier, overnight Thursday, March 23, a large-scale fire engulfed a military munitions depot in Balaklia, Kharkiv region. Mass detonations led to an evacuation of nearly 20,000 residents of nearby settlements.

There were no casualties among the military, but one civilian woman was killed and several others were injured.

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