Mi-8 helicopter explodes at Kramatorsk airfield - media
KYIV. April 25 (Interfax) - A Mil Mi-8 helicopter exploded at an airfield in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, the Kramatorsk.Info website has reported.
Several powerful explosions occurred on the premises of Kramatorsk's civilian airport at around 11:00 a.m., after which a fire broke out and smoke blanketed the place.
The helicopter and ammunition are burning, the website said, citing some reports.
The director of the Center for Military-Political Studies and Information Resistance group coordinator, Dmytro Tymchuk, for his part, said at a press briefing in Kyiv "we have been informed that a Mi-8 helicopter exploded at the airfield in Kramatorsk."
"A tentatively theory is that helicopter came under fire as it was warming up before takeoff," he said.
The pilot managed to jump out of the helicopter before the blast, he said.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces took control of the Kramatorsk airfield last week.