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Massive Ukraine Munitions Blasts May Have Been Caused By a Drone (bbc.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the I-smell-sabatoge dept.

dryriver writes: The BBC reports that 20,000 people are being evacuated from the immediate area around a munition dump in Ukraine that has gone up in flames. The 350 hectare munition dump near Kharkiv is around 100km (60 miles) from fighting against Russian-backed separatists and was used to supply military units in the conflict zone in nearby Luhansk and Donetsk. A drone was reported to have been used in an earlier attempt to set the facility on fire in December 2015. Authorities are now investigating whether someone possibly flew a drone over the facility that dropped an explosive device that caused the stored munitions to catch fire and explode. Ukrainian authorities believe that the conflagration at the facility is the result of sabotage.

102 comments

  1. memes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    when 4chan pranks go too far

    1. Re:memes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      when 4chan pranks go too far

      Electing Trump wasn't enough. They literally want to watch the world burn.

    2. Re:memes by dwillden · · Score: 1

      Blame Shia for trying to fly his flag at the ammo dump.

      --
      I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
  2. Fake News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The blasts weren't massive, they were BIGLY! Also they had nothing to do with Vladimir V. Putin or Donald J. Trump, believe me, folks.

  3. Remember, kids... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When your drone goes outside to take a smoke break, keep them away from ammo dumps.

    1. Re:Remember, kids... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When your drone goes outside to take a smoke break, keep them away from ammo dumps.

      Don't forget: No Spitting!

  4. 350 Hectares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    350 hectares? I can't quite imagine that. Can I get that in schoolbuses squared?

    1. Re:350 Hectares? by MouseR · · Score: 2

      A country at war with a despotic tiny man, having a 350 hectares ammo dump, probably deserves to have it's ammo dump asploded. Who would store that much in one concentrated place. I bet they even painted a red target on the ground to make sure they wouldn't miss it.

    2. Re:350 Hectares? by quonset · · Score: 1, Informative

      It's near the frontline with the Russian troops who are shelling Ukrainian towns and villages every day as well as making ground attacks on Ukrainian positions, close enough to quickly resupply Ukrainian troops.

      While large, this was probably in place from long ago, a relic of the Russian puppet Yanukovych. Since Ukraine didn't have the time or resources to move the munitions to proper storage before the Russians attacked, they used what they have.

      The Russians had previously tried to attack this place late in 2015. With all the drones coming in from Russia, assuming this is the case, it was only a matter of time before they got a shot at this immobile target.

    3. Re:350 Hectares? by jjon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If you look at it on Google Earth, you'll see that it's fairly spread out. There are a large number of separate warehouses (around 100?), and each warehouse has large earthen banks around it, then a large amount of empty space. That's intended to contain fire & explosions, so if something goes wrong you might lose a single warehouse but they don't spread to other parts of the complex. That's clearly not working very well. But those earthen banks and empty spaces take up a large amount of space, probably over 90% of the site.

      So it's fairly spread out, even though it was at a single site.

      People tend to object if you build an ammo bunker next to their house, so it's always going to be awkward to get more sites. You also need to secure ammo bunkers very well, so having less sites lets you have better security for the same money, or spend less to get the same level of security. Making a base 4 times bigger only doubles the perimeter fencing needed, probably doesn't change the number of guarded gates you need, and the number of guards needed only goes up a little bit since the guards are mostly there to man the gate and to react to an intruder. So having a small number of large sites does make sense.

    4. Re:350 Hectares? by sgage · · Score: 1, Troll

      You are just making shit up. Russian troops are not shelling Ukrainian towns and villages every day, Quite the opposite, it the Ukies shelling the Donbas.

    5. Re:350 Hectares? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      I would think even the Russians (who generally have decent engineering) would have rigged an EXPLOSIVES DUMP so it would not just ... explode. The US facilities I've seen (from a distance) have numerous design features to prevent that very thing since military explosives do have the tendency to .... explode.

      Concrete separators, buried shelters, operational management to keep things separated. Pretty low tech stuff.

      Aside from being an earth shattering kaboom it's a giant WTF.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    6. Re: 350 Hectares? by fubarrr · · Score: 0

      go drink vodka comrade

    7. Re: 350 Hectares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha, you stupid xenophobes don't even have coherent racism ready to lob at the Russians. Are "vodka" and "comrade" the only two Russian words you know?

    8. Re: 350 Hectares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL, the Putinbots and their useful idiots in the alt-Right have just learned how to use the race card.
      *slow clap*

  5. Re:Good good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Moldova SUCKS

  6. Neglect is more likely by voislav98 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There has been a number of ammunition depot explosions over the last 15 years in across Eastern Europe. 2 in Serbia, 6 in Bulgaria since 2000, Gerdec in Albania, Cobasna in Moldova, Ukraine itself in 2015. Cold War explosives are becoming unstable and they tend to explode on their own, especially when there is insufficient money to maintain proper storage.

    1. Re:Neglect is more likely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tovarishch! ! You have returned to post excellent propaganda! Give my respects to Vladimir.

    2. Re:Neglect is more likely by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Informative

      Cold War explosives are becoming unstable and they tend to explode on their own, especially when there is insufficient money to maintain proper storage.

      You know what else is becoming unstable? Vladimir Putin's political enemies and journalists. They're dropping like flies, literally. Earlier this week, one mysteriously flew out a fifth floor window.

      https://www.buzzfeed.com/mikeh...

      And just yesterday, one was mysteriously gunned down in Kiev.

      https://www.adn.com/nation-wor...

      Since the election, we've had nine prominent opponents of Vladimir Putin become unstable and expire mysteriously. Such coincidence!

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:Neglect is more likely by Kabukiwookie · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Quite frankly, with Poroshenko's neo-nazi militias fighting against the rebels in the east, I would actually no put it beyond him (or his neo-nazi buddies) to just kill this person to be able to point the finger of blame at Putin.

      --
      The mountains of madness have many little plateaus of sanity - Terry Pratchett.
    4. Re:Neglect is more likely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And during the US election you threw vitriol at anyone bringing up the number of deaths and "suicide by two gunshots in the back of the head" surrounding the Clintons.

      What makes those claims absurd conspiracy theories and yours about Putin not?

    5. Re:Neglect is more likely by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      Quite frankly, with Poroshenko's neo-nazi militias fighting against the rebels in the east

      By "rebels", you mean Russians.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:Neglect is more likely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, but they would have waited until after he unveiled the dirt on Putin. The only person who benefited from his death is Putin. And considering this has happened repeatedly with the only common factor being Putin - not hard to figure out who was behind it.

    7. Re:Neglect is more likely by Kabukiwookie · · Score: 2

      No, I mean rebels. They're supported by Russia, sure. But these people are former Ukranian citizens, so 'rebels' would be the correct word to describe them.

      If you haven't followed this conflict from the start. Some of the eastern province attempted to secede from the Ukrain, directly after the former president was overthrown. The people who did this were at the time Ukranian citizens, so regardless on whether they're supported by Russia, China or the spaghetti monster, the correct word would be rebel.

      Either that or there also wasn't any 'south vietnamese' government during the Vietnam police action, which was at the time heavily supported by the US, but just a conflict between North Vietnam and the US.

      --
      The mountains of madness have many little plateaus of sanity - Terry Pratchett.
    8. Re:Neglect is more likely by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      Either that or there also wasn't any 'south vietnamese' government during the Vietnam police action, which was at the time heavily supported by the US, but just a conflict between North Vietnam and the US.

      You are right. There was no South Vietnam when the US was fighting its dirty war.

      You can call them "rebels", but they were fighting for the US, just as the Ukrainian rebels are fighting for Vladimir Putin.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    9. Re:Neglect is more likely by Kabukiwookie · · Score: 2

      Possible. But what if he didn't have any real dirt on Putin and was just disgruntled.

      If that was the case he would not be of any use to Poroshenko in any other way than a way to make Putin look bad.

      Not saying either scenario is true, it may well be that Putin was behind this; it's just that people jumping to conclusions without any further evidence, that rubs me in the wrong way.

      --
      The mountains of madness have many little plateaus of sanity - Terry Pratchett.
    10. Re:Neglect is more likely by Kabukiwookie · · Score: 1

      At least you're consistent. I actually have to give that some thought.

      --
      The mountains of madness have many little plateaus of sanity - Terry Pratchett.
    11. Re: Neglect is more likely by fubarrr · · Score: 0, Troll

      Go suck Putins dick commie looser

    12. Re:Neglect is more likely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, seen picture of that site and basically they store it in crates piled about 10x4xwhatever in open with no cover.

    13. Re:Neglect is more likely by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      And during the US election you threw vitriol at anyone bringing up the number of deaths and "suicide by two gunshots in the back of the head" surrounding the Clintons.

      What makes those claims absurd conspiracy theories and yours about Putin not?

      I think you answered your own question, in a roundabout way.

      Oh, I think the question was answered well enough by your answer. That discomfort you feel is called cognitive dissonance.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    14. Re: Neglect is more likely by Kabukiwookie · · Score: 1

      Go bend over for Trump and lube up idiot.

      --
      The mountains of madness have many little plateaus of sanity - Terry Pratchett.
    15. Re: Neglect is more likely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Vladimir Putin best Putin.

      You make lies against great man.

    16. Re:Neglect is more likely by guacamole · · Score: 1

      I follow Russian news, and I can tell that there is a massive fire and blasts like this one in Russia on a regular basis. I don't know if this reflects more on the poor governance in that part of the world or on the fact that many of those munitions are long past their prime. Have a look at these rusted grenade shells (pictures from Ukraine):

      http://bmpd.livejournal.com/25...

    17. Re:Neglect is more likely by guacamole · · Score: 1

      Please keep your political propaganda to yourself. The former poster had a very good point about those old Soviet munitions. The media does not report it, but such fires and blasts have happened many times in the recent years within Russia itself. So that was a good point IMO. In reality, we probably will never find out the truth about what happened there.

    18. Re:Neglect is more likely by Archtech · · Score: 1

      Either that or there also wasn't any 'south vietnamese' government during the Vietnam police action, which was at the time heavily supported by the US, but just a conflict between North Vietnam and the US.

      Nearly right. The "South Vietnamese" government was an illegal and illegitimate device conjured up by Washington to justify its violent intervention. There was a nation called Vietnam. After international talks, an election was scheduled for Vietnam. Washington decided that the Communists were certain to win the election, so it engineered a "rebellion" by a newly-invented entity called "South Vietnam". Insofar as it ever existed, South Vietnam must have seceded from Vietnam, just as Washington maintains Crimea wasn't allowed to secede from Ukraine.

      Incidentally, lots of people are saying that the referendum through which Crimea returned to Russia was illegitimate. It's not often mentioned that, after the dissolution of the USSR in 1990, the people of Ukraine (including Crimea) were not consulted at all about the decision to declare a new nation called "Ukraine". If you consult the history books, you will find that there had NEVER before been a nation state called "Ukraine". It had always been part of Russia, except when it was conquered by the Turks or the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

      And the coup d'etat of 2014 which overthrew President Yanukovych was both violent and illegal - a fact which the present "acting" President Poroshenko has publicly admitted.

      --
      I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    19. Re:Neglect is more likely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they would have waited until after he unveiled the dirt on Putin

      Well-founded dirt on Putin isn't easy to come by. And the fucker who was shot in Kiev certainly didn't have access to said dirt. He used to be a regular crooked "patriotic" Crimea-is-ours-chanting MP, until one day he stole too much and found himself under prosecution. Then he promptly made off to Ukraine and changed colour.

    20. Re:Neglect is more likely by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Nearly right. The "South Vietnamese" government was an illegal and illegitimate device conjured up by Washington to justify its violent intervention. There was a nation called Vietnam. After international talks, an election was scheduled for Vietnam. Washington decided that the Communists were certain to win the election, so it engineered a "rebellion" by a newly-invented entity called "South Vietnam". Insofar as it ever existed, South Vietnam must have seceded from Vietnam, just as Washington maintains

      That's a very good summary.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    21. Re:Neglect is more likely by skam240 · · Score: 1

      I dont. In the last Ukrainian election pro Western candidates won by overwhelming margins. One can spin conspiracy theories all day that the Ukrainian uprising was US sponsored but there's just no evidence of that.

      What there is evidence of is Russia invading Crimea and providing quite a lot of "aid" to the "rebels" (if by "aid" and "rebels" you mean the Russians rolling troops, artillery, and tanks in to fight the Ukrainians). The Ukrainians are fighting to preserve their borders here. End of story.

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
  7. Okay, we're gonna have to start disambiguating by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    Was it a commercial multi-copter "drone" or a military UAV "drone"?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  8. For those who aren't aware of this... by cheesybagel · · Score: 2

    Kharkiv, Ukraine is the home of one of the largest tank manufacturing facilities in the world, for the Morozov Design Bureau, the designers of the T-34,T-54,T-64 tanks. There are quite a lot of deactivated ex-USSR tanks there:
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

    1. Re:For those who aren't aware of this... by guacamole · · Score: 1

      I highly disagree with your statement. Kharkiv may have been one of the largest tank factories when the USSR existed, but today Kharkiv is a shell of a former self. For example, Thailand had signed a contract to purchase 50 of Ukraine's latest T-84 "Oplot" tanks. The Kharkiv factory was producing those tanks at the rate of between 0 and 5 tanks per year. Facing the prospects of waiting for decades for the tanks that they ordered, Thailand is now talking to the Chinese tank manufacturers to order more tanks. In the recent years, Kharkiv has been exporting a whole lot of tanks, but those were basically refurbished T-72 tanks equipped with 5TD (T-64 engines) of which Ukraine had plenty in its storage deports. But as I mentioned, Kharkiv's record of producing brand new tanks has been relatively poor.

      On the other hand, we can now say that many versions of Russia's T-90 tank were the most exported tank of the 21st century. India purchased more than one thousand T-90 tanks (some to be assembled in India), Algeria ordered several hundred, and Azerbaijan bought a hundred with options for more (those are the biggest T-90 orders that come up to my mind right now).

    2. Re:For those who aren't aware of this... by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      Well sure they have issues. Ukraine's economy is quite poor so they can't spend much on their military. They are also presently at war with Russia and their weapons factories are often close to the Russian border and sometimes used to buy parts and materials from Russia proper (the relations date back from the USSR). So of course they're having a hard time fulfilling the order. But AFAIK the Ukrainians have always fulfilled their weapons deals in the past. There may be delays but they've always done their part as long as they get paid for it. One example is the deal with Pakistan with the T-80UD a couple of years back. When Russia denied them some critical parts the Ukrainians just made their own replacements locally. They have some good talent on engines and gas-turbines. Their tank, naval, and aircraft industries are presently mostly export oriented.

      The T-90 has had its own issues as well. The Indians complained there was a wide variation between tanks. Some had turrets installed different from the original specification. Quite a lot of them were in fact remanufactured T-72 chassis. So it isn't just Ukraine that does this. There's quite a lot of ex-USSR equipment lying around so of course they'll reuse it as much as possible.

    3. Re:For those who aren't aware of this... by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      issues would be an understatement. iraq of all countries was so angry about the quality of apcs made there that they have returned half of the delivered apcs and cancelled the order.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    4. Re:For those who aren't aware of this... by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      That's one reason why weapons clients prefer to buy battle tested equipment which has had a large production run. It means the kinks have been ironed out.

      One way to prevent these issues is to have someone from the client physically present on the production facility to inspect the vehicles before delivery.

  9. Asymmetrical warfare and rules of engagement. by HornWumpus · · Score: 0

    Russian ammo dumps are now fair targets.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    1. Re:Asymmetrical warfare and rules of engagement. by currently_awake · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Realize the Russians are not trying to win this war. They want to pressure the Ukraine government to stay away from the EU/NATO, but don't want to be seen crushing them with their army as that would provoke an EU trade blockade. As soon as the Ukraine gov gives up the war will disappear.

    2. Re:Asymmetrical warfare and rules of engagement. by HornWumpus · · Score: 0

      While that maybe true. Ukes will now have free hands to fly quads over rusky ammo dumps and 'return the favor'. It wasn't a good move.

      I think the ruskys want a puppet government back. Neutral won't be good enough, Putin's buds need to get their 10%+ of Ukrainian GDP.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    3. Re:Asymmetrical warfare and rules of engagement. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Disagree. I think the fascist Putin regime is out to crush and humiliate the West by any means fair or foul, and that Putin is a thug and psychopath who cannot be reasoned with.

      The only way this ends, is with a colour revolution in Russia, and a stick up Putin's ass.

    4. Re:Asymmetrical warfare and rules of engagement. by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Realize the Russians are not trying to win this war. They want to pressure the Ukraine government to stay away from the EU/NATO (...) As soon as the Ukraine gov gives up the war will disappear.

      That is to win the war, just not by military means. You make it sound like Kiev could stop, then Russia could stop, then things would be fine. Ukraine is the second poorest country in Europe, only beaten by tiny Moldova. They need good trade relations either with EU to the west or Russia to the east. Traditionally it's been east. They were in talks with the EU to open up to the west. The president was trying to halt those talks and instead make a new deal with Putin, which lead to the revolution and a pro-western government.

      The only way they could "stay away from the EU/NATO" would be to basically give up on everything they've stood for and that people have died for and come begging on their knees to Putin for a new trade deal. Quite likely they'd have to formally surrender Crimea and rebel controlled territory in the east to Russia too. That's close to unimaginable and it'd probably start a new war of secession in western Ukraine. So the talks with the EU/NATO must continue while the conflict areas will be used to interrupt and delay the process.

      At this point it's only a question of how long they can be kept in limbo. But the EU has shown before with Cyprus that they can accept nations with territory they consider illegally occupied, without taking any action. Whether they'd have the balls to do it with Ukraine is a different story, but it's not an absolute blocker. Already things are opening up with the association agreement, it looks like visa-free tourism is going to happen... they're heading down that track whether Putin wants them to or not.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    5. Re:Asymmetrical warfare and rules of engagement. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a moron, there is already an EU and US economic blockade against Russia aka sanctions. The whole situation is caused by Russia wanting control over Ukraine, rather than them joining the EU. Invading a country is hardly going to win friends, more likely to make long term enemies and I hope so too.

  10. the truth is out there by jediborg · · Score: 1

    Lies all lies. Just like the Chernobyl incident, we know this was REALLY caused by the humans trying to tinker with decepticon technology.

  11. More likely a guard having a quiet smoke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It takes real care and attention to NOT have munitions stockpiles go bang.

  12. Wow by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    It's like a real-life version of an episode of Hogan's Heroes!

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  13. Re:Good good by istartedi · · Score: 2

    Moldova and Poland could merge. They could call it Moland Springs. If you throw Russia in too, they could be Mulva.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  14. Great advice by s.petry · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While sabotage is possible, so is carelessness from a soldiers assigned to the depot. When I was in the Army I was a member of a team who did pre ARTEP OPFOR. Supply units were horrible, the worst of the back lines units. It's boring work for the soldiers, leading to massive complacency and struggles with morale. Medical units were much more alert, much busier, and tended to have much higher morale.

    Considering many of these depots are not as well constructed or older, it only takes a small accident to have a big result.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:Great advice by rtb61 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The most logical cause for the fire, this based upon EU and US claims about the Ukraine government being extremely corrupt and incompetent, someone stole a bunch of arms and munitions and wanted to cover up the theft by setting the facility on fire. The likely destination of those stolen arms and munitions, the same place as so much of Ukraine's other stolen arms and munitions (the reason why the Ukraine was so incompetent in a war against it's own), where ever illegal arms merchants currently profit the most, from the Middle East to Africa, who ever is the highest bidder, whether it Saudi Arabia, the CIA, or some other despot or war lord whether or not they are pretending to be religious freaks. So likely a quick check on vehicles that left that compound in the last few weeks, will lead you directly to the culprits. It is even possible those arms and munitions might not even be leaving the Ukraine but are to be used in a new even more radical coup than the last, good luck to Ukraine's neighbours and the US will likely need to be stationing more troops around the Ukraine whilst pretending they are about Russian aggression. US control of the situation seems to be deteriorating, 5 billion plus pissed away, apart from the gold the US was able to steal from Ukrainians, watch the disappear into private coffers.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    2. Re: Great advice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You did ARTEP OPFOR? Well there's your mistake, probably not your fault, it's a common one often the result of inadequate training. In that situation you obviously should have used IFTHEN WOTFOR.

    3. Re:Great advice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, if you think wild unfounded conspiracy theories with absolutely no basis are "more likely".

      Putin will be so very proud of you comrade.

    4. Re:Great advice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ARTEP OPFOR?

      I once FBRD the NRFL, but SLM on the JFLD no once but twice.

    5. Re:Great advice by SMOKEING · · Score: 1

      > watch the disappear into private coffers

      You are too anxious to never fail to write *The* with "Ukraine". Relax.

    6. Re:Great advice by slashrio · · Score: 1

      Indubitably very interesting, but I stopped reading at "pre ARTEP OPFOR". No, I'm not even going to ask what that means.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    7. Re:Great advice by MatthiasF · · Score: 1

      Why is this labeled as "Insightful"? There's no proof of false flag, corruption or theft, nor any of the other assertions mentioned.

      Stop up-modding unproven accusations.

    8. Re:Great advice by skam240 · · Score: 1

      What, are you getting paid by the Russians for that post? How on earth is that "The most logical cause for the fire"? You've furnished zero evidense to support your claim.

      It could very well have been a Russian or seperatist drone as, in case you missed it, there is a war happening over there. I will, however, hold off judgement until there is actual evidense .

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
  15. Aren't explosives stored under something? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do these munitions dumps not have buildings with roofs? Did the drone just drop a fizzing bomb into a pile of TNT barrels like a road runner cartoon or something?

    1. Re:Aren't explosives stored under something? by sgage · · Score: 1

      Meep meep - >>BOOM!

    2. Re:Aren't explosives stored under something? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about some fizzing thermite? Your roof is meaningless.

  16. Re:putin did it just like the person he had killed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    He even burnt my toast this morning.

  17. Re:Good good by bmimatt · · Score: 2

    In the age of Google maps, your ignorance of geography is unforgivable.

  18. Shooting a it with a Patriot seems less silly now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shooting a drone with a Patriot Missile seems less silly now.

  19. Re:Expect Russia to take advantage by sgage · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You are making shit up. If Russia wanted to take any Ukranian land, it would have been taken. What is it with Slashdot today - people just saying random shit without any grounding in reality.

  20. IoT by rossdee · · Score: 1

    "He even burnt my toast this morning."

    I always thought having an internet connected toaster was a stupid idea

  21. Re: Expect Russia to take advantage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only the other day someone was saying not to fear Russia because they were tiny and had no real military power. Today, none may oppose mighty God Emperor Putin. Thats the thing about lies and propaganda, the contradictions are easy to spot.

  22. Re:Expect Russia to take advantage by Shinobi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You mean, except for the whole thing with Crimea, "independent contractors" fielding equipment straight out of russian military depots, and even those little green men fielding weapons only produced for russian special operations units. Or the whole dismantling and transferring to Russia certain production facilities for ceramics needed for the production of new engines for fighters etc.

  23. Let's put tons of ammo together in a massive pile by skaag · · Score: 1

    I mean what could possibly go wrong, right?...

    --

    All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... time... to... die...

  24. Re:Let's put tons of ammo together in a massive pi by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Where do you propose they store it? In shoeboxes in the various soldiers' homes? That would be as distributed as possible, right?

    Ammunition depots are a fact of logistics. Ammunition has to be guarded, so you lump it together in as many places as you can afford to guard, and no more.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  25. Re:Expect Russia to take advantage by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    If Russia wanted to take any Ukranian land, it would have been taken.

    Even Russia cares about international opinion. Not necessarily about what it looks like today, but what it will look like next week. They need to maintain plausible deniability, so they are not simply rolling over them.

    In a world which contained no countries but Russia and Ukraine, there would be only Russia.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  26. Re:Expect Russia to take advantage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think Crimea proves the point. If they really wanted something it would have been done and dusted already.

  27. Re:Expect Russia to take advantage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Obvious russian shill is obvious.

  28. Re:Let's put tons of ammo together in a massive pi by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Raises hand. I'll take all the 7.62x54 they have to spare. And a couple of Dragonoves.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  29. yeah, right... by serbanp · · Score: 1

    Ukrainian authorities believe that the conflagration at the facility is the result of sabotage.

    Smells just like the yellow journalism writing about the USS Maine in Havana's harbor.

    1. Re:yeah, right... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course it's sabotage. A massive munitions fire to cover up massive munitions theft.

    2. Re:yeah, right... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not necessarily to cover up theft. Most of those munitions were probably already used against Donbas. Shelling civilians doesn't look good, especially for a country looking for handouts internationally, have to account for ammunition.

    3. Re:yeah, right... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      > Shelling civilians doesn't look good
      But it has looked fine to the civilised world so far. Why bother now?

  30. muslims at it again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i bet you it's the muzzies

  31. Re:Let's put tons of ammo together in a massive pi by swb · · Score: 1

    I would expect any significant ammo storage facility to consist of a series of bermed bunkers with enough concrete or earthworks to contain or redirect blast forces up, far enough away from the next bunker that any fire wouldn't easily spread to the next one.

    At a minimum this could be hand-dug trenches lined with sandbags and sheet metal roofs and at maximum concrete bunkers.

  32. Ukraine's governance, the civil war, and some pics by guacamole · · Score: 1

    To be honest, I doubt we will ever find truth about what happened there. On one hand, this ammo depot is located in the region that borders Russia and Ukraine's pro-Russian separatist region of Donbass, and therefore, we can assume that there is a good chance that the fire was set off as an act of sabotage by Russians or by Ukraine's rebels.

    On the other hand, considering the extremely poor, inept, and corrupt governance that all of Ukraine (including its military) have experienced in the last 25 years, I wouldn't discount the possibility that ammunition depot fire was set off by an accident.

    Either way, this incident has produced pictures that rival the December of 2016 pyro-accident in Mexico.

    Have a look:

    http://bmpd.livejournal.com/25...

  33. or carelessness maybe? by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There has been a number of ammunition depot explosions over the last 15 years in across Eastern Europe. 2 in Serbia, 6 in Bulgaria since 2000, Gerdec in Albania, Cobasna in Moldova, Ukraine itself in 2015. Cold War explosives are becoming unstable and they tend to explode on their own, especially when there is insufficient money to maintain proper storage.

    My father told me a story from the cold war, specifically the Nicaraguan civil war in the 70's. He was an officer in Somoza's army at the time. They found a cache of explosives and improvised bombs left behind by the rebels, and he and others were in charge of destroying them (a controlled explosion.) Alas, some pro-government reporters were demanding (yep, demanding) the troops to "re-arrange" the explosives to take better pictures.

    My dad, as he told me, had a bad feeling about it (given how badly improvised explosives and old ammo could be) and left the site to report the anomaly. Just after walking a hundred yards or so, BOOM!. People without limbs, eyes popped like water balloons by the shock wave, flesh splatted everywhere.

    Ammo and things that go kaput, you gotta respect that volatile shit.

  34. Re:Let's put tons of ammo together in a massive pi by guacamole · · Score: 1

    Like you said, nothing could go wrong. Just take a look at how well the ammo was stored:

    http://bmpd.livejournal.com/25...

  35. Re:Expect Russia to take advantage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That most of them were residents of Crimea, that the graveyards are filled with their family members since Catherine the Great ruled Russia is irrelevant?

    Never mind Crimea being attached to Ukraine in 1954 by Kruschev. Never mind the referendum in Crimea that was ignored in 1991.

    Nobody in their right mind would want to be governed by the current neonazi Ukrainian government.

    There is no place for Russian speakers in Mr. Porochenko's Ukraine. A government that calls a portion of its citizenry "subhumans" and suspends their constitutional human rights must be called to account. May I suggest watching Mr. Porochenko in his own words,
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=q7y019rXGms

  36. Re:Expect Russia to take advantage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See, I'm not sure if they actually do. Russia's shitty plot to interfere in US presidential elections was done with zero effort to conceal the influence-peddling, selective leaking of hacked emails, etc etc.

    Putin doesn't care in the slightest about public opinion. Being feared and hated by the world is as good as being respected in his book. In their twisted thug logic, it makes them look strong at home, and the vatniks are eating that shit right up.

  37. Re:Expect Russia to take advantage by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Putin doesn't care in the slightest about public opinion. Being feared and hated by the world is as good as being respected in his book.

    Fear is a kind of respect. Not the best kind, but still better than no respect in the realm of international politics. But that fear comes from respect. If Putin comes off as an incompetent schmuck then people will stop fearing him so much. But ruthless and competent is something to fear.

    Trump, on the other hand, has the biggest gun in the room in his hands, so even his incompetence is scary.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  38. Not the first time by qaz123 · · Score: 1

    It's not the first time Ukraine has fire with massive explosions in their ammo storage facilities . I remember a few since the fall of the USSR.

  39. Re:Let's put tons of ammo together in a massive pi by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

    not that kind of ammo, sorry. mostly tank and howitzer shells, also some tactical ballistic missiles and SAMs. nice fireworks, but nothing you'd want to keep at home.

    --
    "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  40. Re:Let's put tons of ammo together in a massive pi by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Speak for yourself.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  41. Re:Let's put tons of ammo together in a massive pi by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

    Ammo ages. When it happens the propellant leaks nitric acid which reacts with the propellant and the casing, heating it up, which accelerates the aging and leads to a positive feedback loop that ultimately causes spontaneous combustion, which was the most probable cause for that explosion in the Ukraine. Think again.

    --
    "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  42. Re:Good good by slashrio · · Score: 1

    Europe, Russia and China should gather in one Eurasia.
    The imperialist neo-cons (Soros) lose, the rest of the world wins.

    --
    "Trump!!", the new Godwin.