Footage from the scene showed pillars of flame and mushroom clouds curling above the base as explosions occurred every few seconds. Rockets could be seen launching at random into the skies around the base.

Authorities said on Wednesday morning that two people had been injured. No one has yet been reported killed by the blasts.

Volodymyr Groysman, the Ukrainian prime minister, flew to the scene to overnight at on the instructions of Petro Poroshenko, the president.

"This is the arsenal of the Ukrainian army, and I think it was no accident that it was destroyed," Mr Groysman said in televised remarks.