Videos Show Russia Burning as Massive Fires Rage
Several videos circulated online on Sunday showing massive black smoke over Russia reportedly caused by a blaze at a construction site in Moscow on the same day that wildfires ravaged other areas in the country.
A fire broke out on Sunday at a construction site that belongs to PIK Group, a Russian real estate construction company headquartered in Moscow, Euromaiden Press reported, citing reports from city residents. The reportedly burning site is located around 5 miles from the FSB Academy.
The cause of the fire remains unknown, but the media outlet reported that the flames broke out after garbage and construction materials caught fire. Euromaiden Press posted a brief clip of the black smoke billowing over buildings in Moscow.
A video of the fire was shared on Twitter by analyst Feher Junior, Irish journalist Jason Corcoran, and former Representative Adam Kinzinger who wrote, "The dreams of Russian expansion?" The clip was also shared on a Telegram channel named "Operational Armed Forces," which posts about operational news of the Ukrainian army, according to its bio on the social media platform.
Moscow is on fire, a construction site caught fire near the FSB Academy. A column of smoke can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. pic.twitter.com/T175VCuHqR — Feher_Junior (@Feher_Junior) May 7, 2023
Meanwhile, a small village in the country's Sverdlovsk region had to be evacuated after a wildfire spread to a gunpowder depot, local officials said Saturday evening, Reuters reported. No casualties have been reported, according to preliminary information, but the fire spread across 960 square meters, the region's ministry of emergency said on its Telegram channel.
Yevgeny Kuyvashev, Sverdlovsk region's governor, described the wildfire situation as "critical," according to Reuters. The wildfire spread across the area as it was worsened by dry and strong winds.
A state of emergency has been announced in a number of areas in Sverdlovsk, where 55 fires broke out as of Sunday, Meduza reported, citing Ekaterinburg Online. The media outlet reported that two gunpowder warehouses burned down and 18 buildings, where explosives were stored, were at risk because of the wildfire that spread across the village of Pervomaysky, which was evacuated along with the village of Krasnoarmeysky.
Residents in the city of Asbest in the Sverdlovsk region, where reportedly four large fires spread out, were left without water or electricity after water and power facilities were impacted.
An aerial view taken on February 28 from inside a skyscraper of Moscow's International Business Centre (Moskva City) shows western Moscow. Several videos circulated online on Sunday showing massive black smoke in Russian skies reportedly caused by a blaze at a construction site in Moscow on the same day that wildfires ravaged other areas in the country. Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images
The region also saw a fire—whose origins has not been determined—last week that swept across a village, leaving one person dead and hundreds of people homeless, according to Reuters.
Reports of the fires in Russia come a few days after two drones hit the Kremlin in Moscow last week. A small explosion of the drone above the building's domed roof was caught on video that circulated online, but it remains unclear who is responsible for the attempted strike. Russia accused Ukraine of the "terrorist attack" and trying to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Kyiv denied.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country wouldn't attack Putin or Moscow, adding that his country doesn't have "enough weapon[s] for this."
Newsweek reached out by email to the Russian foreign affairs ministry and PIK Group for comment.
Source: Newsweek
