Fire rages at Russian fuel depot after suspected Ukrainian missile strikes
A massive fire erupted Monday at an oil storage facility and logistics hub in the Russian city of Bryansk, emergency authorities said.
Footage on social media showed a wall of flames raging around a giant fuel reservoir after what sounded like two explosions about 100 miles northeast of Ukraine,
Another video showed what looked like another fire burning at a second location in Bryansk.
Reuters reported that it was unable to verify the clips.
The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said no one was hurt in the incident, which would be investigated.
The ministry said there was no need to evacuate any parts of Bryansk, a city of 400,000 people, after the blaze broke out about 2 a.m. local time at the Transneft Bryansk-Druzhba facility owned by oil pipeline company Transneft.
The depot is also being used to shore up Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s forces, according to The Telegraph.
Rob Lee, of King’s College London’s war studies department, told the outlet the targets were within range of a Tochka-U ballistic missile if deployed near the border.
There has been unconfirmed speculation on social media that the fire was the result of a Ukrainian missile strike. But there was no immediate comment from Kyiv, which has denied or not responded to previous suggestions that Ukrainian forces has struck targets inside Russia during the invasion.
Last week, Russian officials alleged that Ukrainian helicopters had hit residential buildings and injured seven people in the Bryansk region.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on that allegation at the time.
Bryansk is an administrative center 96 miles northeast of the Ukrainian border and about 240 miles from Moscow.
With Post wires
