Woman found dead after ammunition blast in Ukraine

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - A woman was found dead in debris after explosions Thursday at a military artillery depot in eastern Ukraine, local media reported Friday.

Mykola Chechiotkin, the head of Ukraine's emergency service, said in comments reported by the Interfax Ukraine agency that a 66-year-old woman was found under the debris of a house late Thursday.

The blasts took place at a Defense Ministry warehouse in the city of Balaklia in the country’s eastern Kharkiv region at 7.00 a.m. local time (0500GMT) on Thursday.

Following the explosions, about 15,000 people were evacuated from the area.

Chechiotkin also said one woman was injured during the explosions.

Regions bordering Kharkiv have been the scene of fighting between government forces and Russian-baked separatists since April 2014.

President Petro Poroshenko said late Thursday on his social Twitter account that officials will ask NATO for assistance in making the area safe again.

-Possible sabotage

On Thursday, Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak told reporters that the explosion may have been caused by an "act of sabotage".

Ukraine has been wracked by conflict since March 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea after an illegal independence vote.

This followed violent anti-government protests which led to the overthrow of the then-President Victor Yanukovich.

The UN General Assembly voted to proclaim the Russian annexation illegal.

Along with many UN countries, the U.S., the EU and Turkey also do not recognize Crimea as Russian territory.