Russia says new blast at arms depot kills 8

MOSCOW (Reuters) - At least eight people were killed and two injured on Monday when munitions exploded at a Russian navy arms depot, the second such incident at the same arsenal in 10 days, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry said.

The explosions took place at Arsenal Number 31 in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk, a city of 635,000 people about 800 km (500 miles) southeast of Moscow.

"Eight people were killed and two injured while loading munitions for decommissioning," said a Defense Ministry spokesman.

The spokesman said the blast took place at 1430 local time (1130 GMT).

Russia's poorly trained and badly paid military has suffered frequent accidents with their aging equipment in recent years. Western military attaches say safety standards are low.

Previous mishaps in the Russian armed forces have sometimes led to sackings of senior generals and military officials.

(Reporting by Ludmila Danilova, Writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Michael Stott)