Two killed in Ukraine ammunition depot blasts

Two Ukrainian mining engineers were killed and another four injured in blasts at an arms depot in eastern Ukraine near rebel-held territory, officials said Friday. Ukraine's army said the explosions occurred during the planned disposal of outdated ammunition at a military base near the city of Kharkiv.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed the death of the two military sappers on Facebook. Four other soldiers were hospitalized, with three of them in a grave condition, it said, adding that there were "no threats to local residents and infrastructure" and the blasts had stopped.

Two similar incidents happened at the same facility over the past two years. In March 2017, a large fire triggered explosions there, killing one person and injuring five. Kyiv has been fighting Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014 in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people.

Stockpiles of outdated ammunition dating back to the Soviet era often cause fires and explosions in Ukraine and Russia.