Amateur video footage out of Ukraine shows a military munitions depot exploding in dramatic fashion. The disaster occurred March 23 in the eastern Ukrainian town of Balakliya, and reportedly was the result of a fire started in an act of sabotage, according to Al Jazeera, citing Ukrainian military officials.
Ukrainian officials have linked the incident to Russian-backed separatists nearby.
"We have a 'friendly' country - the Russian Federation," Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak told Reuters. "I think that first of all it could be representatives who help the (separatist) groups that carry out combat missions.”
The weapons depot was just 100 kilometers from territory held by the Russian-backed separatists who have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since 2014,according to the BBC. The weapons destroyed Thursday were used to support the Ukrainian military forces in that fight.
While investigators are looking into how the fire started, with sabotage being the most likely suspect, one official interviewed by the BBC said that the separatists could have used a drone to ignite the blaze. The use of a drone to destroy that same facility was reportedly attempted in December 2015.
No deaths have been reported by the government, which is remarkable considering the scale of the explosions, but roughly 20,000 residents of Balakliya had to be evacuated from the region.
The footage is insane, with subsequent secondary explosions stacking up and rockets cooking off and firing, some leaving smoke trails all over the city. According to the Al Jazeera report, the weapons dump held more than 10,000 tons of munitions and missiles.
Benjamin Franklin nailed it when he said, "Fatigue is the best pillow." True story, Benny. There's nothing like pushing your body so far past exhaustion that you'd willingly, even longingly, take a nap on a concrete slab.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Christopher Evans was arrested on Jan. 29, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Wilmington Police Department, North Carolina.)
A special operations Marine is due in court on March 7 after being arrested last year for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, Task & Purpose has learned.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Christopher Evans was arrested and charged with assault inflicting serious injury on July 29, 2018, according to Jennifer Dandron, a spokeswoman for police in Wilmington, North Carolina. Evans is currently assigned as a Critical Skills Operator with the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, according to the Marine Corps Personnel Locator.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Elyse Ping Medvigy conducts a call-for-fire during an artillery shoot south of Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Aug. 22, 2014. Medvigy, a fire support officer assigned to the 4th Infantry Division's Company D, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, is the first female company fire support officer to serve in an infantry brigade combat team supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Whitney Houston (Photo by U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Whitney Houston)
Following Trump's inauguration, some supporters of ground combat integration assumed he would quickly move to reinstate a ban on women in jobs like the infantry. When this did not happen, advocates breathed a collective sigh of relief, and hundreds of qualified women charted a course in history by entering the newly opened occupational fields.
So earlier this week when the Wall Street Journal published an editorial against women in ground combat by conservative political commentator Heather Mac Donald, the inclination of many ground combat integration supporters was to dismiss it outright. But given Trump's proclivity to make knee jerk policy decisions in response to falling approval ratings and the court's tradition of deference to the military when it comes to policies affecting good order and discipline, it would be unwise to assume the 2016 lifting of the ban on women in ground combat is a done deal.
R. Lee Ermey was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday.
Best known for his iconic role as the Marine Corps drill instructor Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in the war drama Full Metal Jacket, Ermey died April 15, 2018 at age 74 due to complications from pneumonia, Task & Purpose previously reported.
A B-2 Spirit bomber deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and F-22 Raptors from the Hawaii Air National Guard's 154th Wing fly near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, during a interoperability training mission Jan. 15, 2019. (U.S. Air Force/Master Sgt. Russ Scalf)
The U.S. Air Force has two of its most elite aircraft — the B-2 Spirit bomber and the F-22 Raptor — training together in the Pacific, reassuring America's allies and sending a warning to strategic competitors and adversaries about the sheer power the U.S. brings to the table.
These stunning photos show the powerful aircraft tearing across the Pacific, where the U.S. has increasingly found itself facing challenges from a rising China.
