Additional expert examinations of the alloy of the 120mm Molot mortar barrel, which were conducted by the authorized bodies as part of the investigation into a fatal incident at the Rivne shooting range in July when a Molot mortar produced by Kyiv-based MJSC Mayak exploded, have confirmed its full compliance with the necessary requirements, the Ukrainian defense minister's advisor, Yuriy Biriukov, has said.

"All examinations, conducted at Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic expertise and Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, have already confirmed the full compliance of the alloy (of the Molot mortar barrel) with all the necessary requirements," Biriukov wrote on his Facebook page.

In a post dedicated to the new development of the Ukrainian defense industry, the 155mm Bohdan howitzer, he noted that the barrel of a new Ukrainian artillery system is made of the same alloy as the M120-15 mortar.

"[It was made] of the same alloy, from which barrels for tanks have been produced for a long time and in large quantities," he said.

"Somebody really needed to slander our defense industry," Biriukov said.

In this regard, he also recalled that the situation in the Ukrainian defense industry, as well as in the army, at the time of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014, was incomparable with the current situation.

"Four years ago we did not have anything. Neither the army ... nor the military-industrial complex, nor machine tools, nor production," he wrote.

As reported, three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and nine more were wounded in a deadly accident during military drills. The incident occurred on July 6 at the 233rd combined arms firing range near the city of Rivne, some 300 kilometers west of Kyiv.