At least three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and nine more were wounded in a deadly accident during military drills on July 6, according to the Ukrainian army’s press service.
The incident occurred at 5.55 a.m. local time at the 233rd сombined arms firing range near the city of Rivne, some 300 kilometers west of Kyiv, the army said.
The deaths were reportedly caused by the premature explosion of a mortar round during gunnery drills. Another nine soldiers sustained injuries of varying severity.
On the orders of the Ukrainian army’s top commander, General Serhiy Popko, the brigade-level tactical maneuvers were halted, and an inquiry into the incident has been launched, the press service army said.
Meanwhile, the UA:Rivne media outlet reported, with reference to Armed Forces West Command spokesman Anatoliy Proshyn, that the fatalities were caused when a Molot mortar malfunctioned and exploded. The news agency added that the blast victims served with the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade based in the city of Mukacheve in the Zakarpattian Oblast.
“The main cause (of the accident) was a violation of safety rules,” the Ministry of Defense said later.
The M120-15 Molot (“hammer”) is a 120-millimeter mortar designed on the basis of the Soviet 2B11 mortar, and is produced by the Kyiv-based state-run Mayak plant. The Ukrainian Armed Forces started using the weapon in early 2016.
The weapon, however, has been criticized by military personnel and in the media for the reportedly poor quality of its materials and design — in particular its double loading mechanisms made of hardened steel, which it has been alleged could cause premature ammunition detonations when the weapon is fired.
In recent years there have been at least three other deadly incidents involving Molot mortars. On July 25, 2016, two soldiers were killed and more nine were wounded in a similar explosion at the Shyrokiy Lan firing range in Mykolaiv Oblast. The following inquiry, however, stated that the fatalities were caused by a faulty mortar shell.
Two Aidar Battalion fighters died on the night of Nov. 2, 2016 when another Molot exploded in the Donbas war zone. A similar incident claimed the lives of three soldiers on March 30, 2017, near the front-line town of Avdiyivka.
Mayak’s designers have repeatedly said they were receptive to feedback from the military and had modified the weapon to correct design flaws.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said during a cabinet meeting on July 6 that he would personally monitor the investigation into this case and all other such accidents.
