Explosions of ammunition in warehouses: wife of ex-mayor of Chernihiv sues the Ministry of Defence for millions
14 October 2024 16:08
The Kyiv City Commercial Court has recovered UAH 8.6 million from a military unit in favour of Inter Agricultural LLC, which suffered losses due to explosions and fires at military warehouses in Chernihiv Oblast in 2018. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to a court ruling of 24 September.
The court ruled that the unsafe storage and maintenance of the Ministry of Defence’s ammunition arsenal was illegal and caused damage to the agricultural enterprise.
“Inter claimed UAH 10 million in damages, presenting an expert opinion that established the total value of the damage at this amount. However, another expert report estimated the damage at UAH 8.6 million.
The court also noted that the company did not provide sufficient evidence of the loading of corn into the drying chamber and grain bin. As a result, the military unit will have to compensate Inter for UAH 8.6 million in damages, as well as cover the costs of court fees and professional legal assistance.
It is worth noting that Inter is owned by Valeriy Kulich and Iryna Atroshenko, the wife of former Chernihiv mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko. on 6 June 2023, Atroshenko was dismissed from the post of mayor by the Chernihiv District Administrative Court.
As a reminder, on 9 October 2018, explosions occurred at the Ministry of Defence arsenal in Ichnia, Chernihiv region, which resulted in the evacuation of 12,500 people from nearby settlements. About 60,000 tonnes of ammunition were destroyed, which is 95% of the arsenal stored there. The fire lasted almost a week and was completely extinguished on 24 October. The territory of the arsenal is about 682.6 hectares, of which 402 hectares are a technical zone. Prior to the explosions, the arsenal had 69,500 tonnes of ammunition, but only 43,000 tonnes could be fully utilised. As a result of the incident, most of the stored ammunition was destroyed.
