Military sabotage? : 188,000 tons of ammunition go up in flames

The storage facility, in Ukraine, contained everything from rockets to firearms ammunition

Not unexpectedly, the Russians have been accused of sabotage after 188,000 tons of ammunition including rockets went up in flames at a Ukranian army warehouse.

The military warehouse in Kalinovka, near Vinnytsia stored  both shells and weapons ammunition, and images from the scene show an enormous fireball over the area, and several rockets flying into the night sky.

How the fire started still remains a mystery but thousands of shells ignited in a great inferno which was first reported around 10pm on Tuesday.

There have been mass evacuations from villages and towns close to the site of up to 30,000 people.

Yury Butusov, a journalist and editor of Censor.net believes the fire was arson.  He claimed it was a birthday present from Vladimir Putin to his opposite number Petro Poroshenko, the Ukranian president, who turned 52 on Tuesday.

Big boom: The fire broke out at an army warehouse in central Ukraine on Tuesday night with 188,000 tons of ammunition going up in flames

Intense: So far some 30,000 people have been evacuated from nearby towns and villages

High risk: A rocked can be seen flying over a number of farm buildings in Kalynivka

Fireworks: Rockets are seen are launching into the sky  seen after a fire at a warehouse storing ammunition for multiple rocket launcher systems at a military base

Big boom: The military warehouse in Kalinovka, near Vinnytsia holds both shells and weapons ammunition, and images from the scene shows an enormous fireball over the area

Far reaching: Two women in a nearby village have been taken to hospital with shrapnel injuries after the weapons storage blew up, sending shells into the sky

Who dunnit: It is not known how the fire started, but local media claims it was Russian sabotage

Ukrainian army soldiers patrol a street in the town of Kalynivka, 13 miles from the side of the ammunition depot blast site

Military reaction: Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) ride on the road near the warehouse