Consequences of fire in artillery warehouses near Kharkov

The fact that the largest ammunition depot, which was burning near Kharkov, was extinguished, the media reported on March 26, but, apparently, this information is somewhat premature. Explosions, however, are solitary, they are still clattering. But in general, we can assume that the fire is eliminated and the time has come for a preliminary assessment of the damage. It is possible that the possible causes of the disaster will also be reviewed. On the "diversionary" version on TV, they say less and less. Evidence of eyewitnesses about not completely understandable actions of officers and even some generals, shortly before the outbreak of the fire, left the territory of the arsenal, and they were allegedly not drunk. In general, the trial is long.

Preliminary results

On March 27, RIA Novosti news agency reported with reference to the head of the Kharkiv regional administration Yulia Svetlichnaya about the consequences of the explosion of a huge amount of ammunition in a warehouse in the district of Grocery, which happened on the night of March 23. Preliminary results are as follows: one person was killed, two wounded. 36 thousand inhabitants of the Grocery and other settlements that were trapped in the danger zone in a ten-kilometer radius from the epicenter were evacuated. Damage and partial destruction were received by 265 buildings (some of them are not subject to restoration), including 114 private houses.

Infrastructure and industrial enterprises also suffered. Unsuitable for use 2 schools and the same number of kindergartens. Nearly all the windows and most of the doors have been knocked out by the blast wave. The size of the damage is not surprising. According to preliminary data, half of the entire stock of ammunition stored in the warehouse exploded. This is more than 65 kilotons. Approximately three Hiroshima.

Negligence or diversion?

Immediately there were voiced two main versions of the state of emergency - skillfully conducted sabotage and someone's criminal negligence, with emphasis, however, on the first option, allegedly based on the testimony of witnesses, whether they heard in the night sky the roar of an engine of an unknown aircraft, or seen it. To explain the incident by hostile intrigues from the political and military point of view is much preferable to looking for those guilty among the military authorities. However, it was impossible to hide the horrific mess that reigned in the warehouse. Thousands of tons of shells, bombs, mines and rockets were stored as horrible - they were stacked on the ground, as recorded in photographs of soldiers who had served there before. Apparently, this prompted the start of two criminal records at once. Negligence, obviously, took place, but diversion is not ruled out.

Evidence of eyewitness

It was not at the time that an eyewitness came from the local inhabitants, while unknown, but with a high probability, really existing. Several media outlets (including the TV channel 112 Ukraine and NewsOne) reported that just before the explosion of the military depot, a company that had been in a rather "upbeat" mood was promoted to it, which was allegedly contributed by the use of hot drinks. The representatives of the generals who came for the purpose of verification were escorted by the local authorities. This local resident very much doubts that an unmanned vehicle dropped an explosive device. Rather, he rejects this version.

Leisure is fun, by the way, not only commanders with big stars on epaulets, but also ordinary soldiers with sergeants who chose a local "glass" with the eloquent title "Shinok." All this information with some stretch could be squeezed into the framework of one of the main versions, suggesting negligence. Well, someone drank something superfluous, and threw the cigarette butt, where it should not. But then a statement was made by the representative of the People's Militia of the People's Republic of Finland, Andrei Marochko. If to him to believe, all was a little differently.

Version from LC

The representative of the LNR kindly gave a hint to the Ukrainian investigators. The sabotage was probably, but it was made not by the mysterious "separatists" (Russian special forces, invaders, etc.), but by the armed forces themselves. Marochko suggested that, as in the case of other fires on storage bases, on March 23, an attempt was made to conceal the real situation in the arsenal, namely, the fact of shortage of ammunition. One could accuse the representative of the LNR of denigrating the good name of "warriors of the world" and striving to undermine the reputation of the APU, but he, in support of his version, pointed to the alleged transshipment storage facility in Stanichno-Lugansky district, specifically in the village of Teplom. There, according to intelligence, CSKA deliver stolen ammunition, and from there they are taken away somewhere. There are options, but the most likely is the sale of shells, mines and missiles on the black arms market. It is not excluded that some of them left for the People's Democratic Republic and the People's Republic of Germany.

The inspector is coming to us, or the most unpleasant news

Andrei Marochko also uncovered other details of the shadow arms turnover that captured the APU. He claims that the Ukrainian 59th Brigade and the 1st howitzer self-propelled artillery battalion of the 54th Brigade are hungry in terms of ammunition, while shells are heavily written off to close the gap in reporting. Ammunition was stolen and sold, and now the command tries to hide these shameful facts. Just to verify this information from Kiev was supposed to arrive Deputy Defense Minister for Armament General Igor Pavlovsky. In general, the warehouse in the Bakalei caught fire and exploded too soon.

Whom will they punish?

The information, betrayed by the publicity of Andrei Marochko, could in any case arouse the interest of Ukrainian investigative bodies, but they may not believe it. After all, he is their enemy, because he is a separatist. Therefore, the main, apparently, will remain two officially announced versions of negligence and sabotage. If the employees of the military prosecutor's office establish the facts of negligent handling of dangerous objects (and it is obviously easy for them), then the guilty will be severely punished.

Find traces of the mysterious, and apparently not existing in nature enemy DDR, will be somewhat more complicated, but with a certain skill and this task does not seem impossible. In this case, the guilty will also be found, and they will be punished immediately by two articles - for negligence in the protection and negligence manifested in the organization of storage. Saboteurs, obviously, will never find. ЛНР and ДНР the involvement deny, but if they managed to blow up the Ukrainian arsenal, they for certain with pride would confirm it. By any measure this is a military success.

Consequences for APU

In connection with the explosion in Bakalee, the question naturally arises as to how much this incident can affect the fighting ability of the Armed Forces, in particular artillery and rifle units. If we estimate the total number of destroyed ammunition, then the conclusion suggests that the damage is large-scale. In total, there was approximately 30% of the entire stock of APU in the warehouse, and even if half of them were burnt, that is 15%, then it is a lot. And the remaining storage units could also suffer from high temperatures, and it is not yet known how they will behave when they try to use it. But one should also take into account the fact that many ammunitions have already exhausted their time and in any case were subject to disposal. In total, in Ukraine, such already accumulated half a million tons. Their destruction is a costly business, and here they seem to have exploded themselves. And it is still unknown what is more expensive - utilization or conditional restoration of damaged buildings. The people in Ukraine are patient.

Some interruptions with APU shells will for some time be felt, mainly for logistical reasons. Then ammunition will be delivered, and everything will begin with a new force. And shelling, and war. There are many shells and missiles in Ukraine ...

Elimination of consequences

The Ministry of Defense has already reported about the completion of mine clearance, but, obviously, they hurried to this. The flight of ammunition is very large, and even to find so far not everything. Some experts from NATO arrived at the Grocery, but they did not hurry to act, but mostly they advised and observed something. The local population calculates its damage. For the residents of the rest of Ukraine, nothing special happened ...