- Eight were killed on the spot and four died in hospital after the explosion
Russia lost a dozen elite marines when they cooked food on an open fire and triggered an explosion from nearby live ammunition.
Eight more were wounded in the incident that Vladimir Putin‘s regime has sought to cover-up.
Reports say a RPG-7 grenade launcher shell caught fire and exploded at Kuzminsky military training ground in Rostov region, bordering Ukraine.
Eight of the marines from 155th Separate Guards Marine Brigade, based in Vladivostok, were killed on the spot.
Four more died in hospital, said the News 166 outlet in Rostov, which said the humiliating tragedy had been confirmed by three independent sources.
‘About 20 people from [the marine brigade] lit a fire next to stocks of ammunition during their lunch break. An RPG-7 grenade launcher shell rolled into the fire and exploded,’ 161.ru quoted one government source as saying.
An explosion at Kuzminsky training ground in Rostov region, where 12 elite Russian Marines were killed and eight wounded when they cooked on a fire which ignited a nearby ammo depot
The troops were believed to be due for deployment to Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine.
All of those killed were said to have been marines from the Primorye region of Russia.
marines from the Primorye region of Russia.
The dead and wounded from the lunchtime cookout have not been named.
A major criminal case has been launched into a suspected breach of safety regulations.
The commander of the Pacific Fleet Admiral Viktor Liina, 55, Pacific fleet commander, has visited the training base to read the riot act over the blunder, it was reported.
Neither the Russian defence ministry nor the Investigative Committee has commented on the fiasco.
A serviceman who witnessed the horror revealed details but it has taken since it occurred on 3 November to verify the details.
MailOnline was unable to verify the details of the Russian reports.
In February, Russian soldiers in Kursk, which also borders Ukraine, were reported to have been killed in an explosion triggered by the men using a cooking stove.
The soldiers poured gasoline onto an open fire, causing an explosion, Russian Telegram channel Baza reported.
Elite Russian troops from the 155th Separate Guards Marine Brigade, located at Vladivostok
In January, a Russian sergeant killed three and injured 16 after accidentally detonating a grenade in his dorm at an ammo storage unit, also causing a large explosion.
A source in the local emergency services said: ‘The preliminary cause of the explosion is careless handling of ammunition.’
Emergency services told Interfax that a sergeant unintentionally detonated an RGD-5 anti-personnel grenade in the building’s sleeping quarters, next to the weapons storage room, causing an explosion and fire that grew to 4,843 square feet (450 square metres).