Article Author:
Reuters
Residents of two villages in southern Russia near the Ukrainian border evacuated on Thursday after a nearby ammunition depot caught fire, but no one was hurt, officials said.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a statement that emergency services were investigating the cause of the fire near the Tymonovo and Soroti settlements, 15 km (9 miles) from Ukraine. said that He declined to provide details.
A popular Ukrainian news website posted a video showing a large ball of flame erupting from the base. Reuters was unable to immediately confirm the video's authenticity.
Russia on Tuesday accused saboteurs of orchestrating a series of explosions at an ammunition depot in Russia-annexed Crimea, further south. An explosion at a Crimean air base last week was blamed on an accident in Moscow at the time.
The front line has been relatively static for several weeks since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, months after Russian forces made modest territorial gains in heavy fighting in the east. The Kyiv government said it was preparing a counteroffensive to retake southern territories.
Gladkov blamed the Ukrainian military for a series of explosions in and around Belgorod, about 650 km (400 miles) south of Moscow, over the past few months. (Reporting by David Ljunggren, Editing by Grant McCool)
