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1 soldier killed, 8 injured in mortar explosion at Ukraine military facility

Xinhua, July 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least one serviceman was killed and eight others were injured on Monday in the mortar explosion at a military facility in Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv region, the country's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The accident occurred at around 11:00 a.m. at the Shyroky Lan facility, when a 120-millimeter calibre mortar exploded during the military practices of the servicemen, the statement said.

Out of eight wounded soldiers, two were seriously injured, while six others sustained light wounds, it said.

The Ukrainian authorities have set up a special operational group to investigate the accident.

The Shyroky Lan military facility is one of the venues of the Sea Breeze-2016 international military exercises, which are now underway in southern Ukraine.

The Sea Breeze-2016 land, naval and air drills, which run from July 18 to 30 in Ukraine's Odessa and Mykolaiv regions, involve around 4,000 military personnel from 16 countries.

Later in the day, Yaroslav Chepurny, an officer at the Odessa regional center of the Defense Ministry, told local media that the mortar accident at the Shyroky Lan "is not related" to the Sea Breeze-2016 exercises. Endit