A fire is ongoing at military depots in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, which broke out around 13:00 on Thursday. Explosions of shells are still ringing out. After the explosions at military depots in Melitopol Raion of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, 5 people died. One person died directly as a result of the emergency. The deaths of four more people "may be indirectly connected to these events," the Interfax-Ukraine agency reports, citing the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Currently the explosions are chaotic in nature. The situation in the area of the explosions at the artillery depots near the village of Novobohdanivka in Melitopol Raion of Zaporizhzhia Oblast remains dangerous. The estimated radius of ammunition scatter is from 10 to 40 km. The distance from the depots to the nearest populated area is about 5 km. The fire at the 275th ammunition storage base of the Southern Operational Command of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, located in the area of the village of Novobohdanivka in Melitopol Raion of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, broke out around 13:00 on Thursday. As a result of the fire, the ammunition stored there began to explode. Local authorities evacuated children to a safe zone and guaranteed the safety of the population of the villages of Novobohdanivka and Fedorivka. In total, more than 6,000 people need to be evacuated from the disaster zone. President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma created a special government commission to investigate the circumstances of the emergency in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. L. Kuchma instructed the Prosecutor General's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine to investigate the circumstances that led to this incident. The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine opened a criminal case over the fact of the fire at the ammunition depots. Deputy Prosecutor General, Head of the Main Directorate of Military Prosecutors of Ukraine Anatoliy Holovin departed for the scene. A state commission on technogenic-ecological safety and emergency situations, headed by Vice Prime Minister Andriy Klyuyev, is working in Melitopol. Its members also include First Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Volodymyr Romanov, First Deputy Minister of Defense Oleksandr Oliynyk, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Anatoliy Prysiazhniuk, and other officials. After familiarizing himself with the situation, Minister of Emergency Situations Hryhoriy Reva arrived in Melitopol on Thursday evening. The USA and Russia promise assistance Yevhen Marchuk stated that the day before he had spoken with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. The parties agreed on the necessary assistance. This morning a specialized group will arrive from Moscow that has experience working in similar emergencies that have occurred in the Russian Federation. The minister also reported that a similar offer of assistance came from the US Ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst. Currently Ukraine and the USA are discussing this issue. Currently equipment from other regions of Ukraine is being pulled to the disaster area. According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Yevhen Marchuk, the cause of the fire at the military depots in Zaporizhzhia Oblast was human factor. According to preliminary data, the cause of the fire at the military depots near the village of Novobohdanivka in Melitopol Raion of Zaporizhzhia Oblast was human factor. This was reported by Defense Minister Yevheniy Marchuk on the air of the "Inter" TV channel. "There are a number of grounds for this," said the minister. According to him, the military prosecutor's office is currently examining this issue at the scene. The head of the military department reported that some shells that detonated during the fire scattered 1.5-2 kilometers from the epicenter. Since there were rocket shells there, their scatter was 5-6 km. At the depots, some shells detonate others. He recalled that Ukraine inherited 184 ammunition bases from the former USSR. The overload of the base in Zaporizhzhia Oblast is more than 100%. "Such fires are not extinguished," said the minister. According to him, such emergencies are localized by other means — with the help of special technologies and special equipment