Ukrainian authorities have opened criminal proceedings after ammunition detonated at a military training ground in the western Khmelnytskyi region on Friday, injuring four servicemen, with contact lost with several others who were at the scene.
The State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) said it launched a preliminary investigation, reporting that the incident, caused by an uncontrolled detonation of ammunition, took place at around 11:55 a.m. local time.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, contact has been lost with several other servicemen who were at the scene at the moment of the detonation, and information regarding their whereabouts is still being clarified.
Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) earlier reported that the incident occurred at a training ground belonging to one of its own military units. The injured personnel were hospitalized and are currently receiving medical treatment, though the severity of their injuries was not disclosed.
“Due to the ammunition detonation, investigators are not yet able to safely begin examining the scene,” the DBR said, adding that they are “already interviewing the unit’s command and personnel, and carrying out other priority investigative actions.”
Criminal proceedings have been opened under Part 2, Article 414 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, which covers violations of rules for handling weapons, as well as substances and objects posing increased danger to those nearby, that caused bodily injury to multiple people, according to the DBR.
The incident highlights the hazards of ammunition handling as Ukraine’s military expands training and logistics operations amid the war. The Khmelnytskyi region, roughly 300 kilometers west of Kyiv, hosts significant military infrastructure; in May 2023, a fire and explosions at an ammunition depot near the regional capital, which Ukrainian officials attributed to a Russian strike, killed at least 21 people and forced mass evacuations.
The SSO is one of Ukraine’s most secretive and highly trained branches, responsible for special operations behind enemy lines, including raids, sabotage and the targeting of senior Russian commanders. Incidents at its facilities draw particular scrutiny from investigators.
Friday’s blast comes as Ukrainian forces rotate units and expand training programs across the country, and as Kyiv keeps pressing Western allies for more ammunition and weapons to sustain the front line. The DBR, Ukraine’s main investigative agency for crimes involving the military, has handled a growing number of weapons-handling cases since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Sources: Kyiv Post, State Bureau of Investigation (Telegram), Prosecutor General’s Office (Telegram).
Author: Ukraine Desk
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