Deputy Minister of defence of Ukraine Igor Pavlovsky Friday, March 24, reported a complete elimination of fire in artillery warehouses of the defence Ministry near the city of Balakleya in Kharkiv region.
“The fire stopped at the Arsenal completely… Now there is the elimination of the consequences of fire” – he said at a briefing in balakliia.
As reported at the Headquarters on liquidation of consequences of explosions in ammunition depots in Balakliya, now rescuers clean the area of the city and nearby settlements from explosives.
“Now on this task, there are nine groups of fireworks. The territory of the city balakliia is divided into nine sectors, three of which are already cleared from explosive objects. Also cleaned four close to Balakliya settlements. Besides, there have been 146 applications from the local population”, – noted in Headquarters.
Reportedly, the next task for the rescue – fire fighting on the territory of the city and the water supply to ensure uninterrupted operation of fire units of the defense Ministry, are involved in extinguishing the fire.
We will remind, in the night of Thursday, March 23, in Balakleya (Kharkiv oblast) on one of the largest in Ukraine ammunition depot explosion, followed by fire and a chain detonation of ammunition.
As of the morning of 24 March on the territory of a military warehouse to continue the explosions. Of the possible affected area is the evacuation of the population.
Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak earlier said that according to available preliminary findings of the cause of the fire and explosions of ammunition in warehouses was a diversion. “One theory is that it is a diversion. In particular, the dropping of the explosive device with UAVs,” said Poltorak. Later , SBU qualified state of emergency in Balakleya as a diversion.
The entrance to the city closed, passenger railway communication is also stopped. The explosion closed the airspace in the 40-kilometer zone for all aircraft.
