🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
A fire at an army site in Moscow has become the latest unexplained blaze to hit a Russian facility linked to the country's military.
Moscow City News Agency reported that emergency services were alerted at 11:45 p.m. Thursday to the blaze at building 10 on Sokolinoy Gory Street in the east of the city, which is around six miles from the Kremlin and Red Square.
The fire engulfed garage units at the site with a video shared on social media showing smoke pouring from the site next to the flashing lights of emergency services vehicles.
The Readovka forum said that the fire covered "about 200 square meters" (about 2,150 square feet) and took almost 10 fire crews to extinguish although there were no casualties. One report said that the fire took four hours to put out.
Newsweek reached out to the Moscow branch of Russia's emergency situations ministry for comment.
Underneath the Readovka post, social media users commented on the fire, with at least two people calling it "suspicious." Twitter users such as Ukrainian racing car driver Igor Sushko suggested that the blaze was arson.
It is unclear if the unit is linked to the war in Ukraine but other military facilities have caught alight amid rumors that Russia was being hit by sabotage attacks.
Last week, there was a fire at the military-linked Zvezda engineering plant in St. Petersburg, which makes diesel engines for the military and civil fleet, and gearboxes for power plants for warships.
The plant also supplies coastal patrol vessels, including those in the Black Sea which are involved in the war in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, there were two massive fires in Moscow within a matter of days. On December 12, the Stroypark shopping center in the city of Balashikha caught fire.
Video showed huge black billowing smoke and red flames raging from the site as the fire engulfed almost the entire building whose roof collapsed.
On December 9, one person was killed in a fire that destroyed the Mega Khimki shopping and entertainment mall in the town of Khimki. The fire spread over an area of about 18,000 square meters (194,000 square feet).
In August, a fire ripped through a warehouse belonging to Russian e-commerce giant Ozon in the Moscow region, forcing more than 1,000 people to evacuate and causing multiple casualties.
Mysterious blazes have been reported in Russia since it invaded Ukraine, including dozens of cases of military buildings and ammunition depots catching fire. Russia has blamed some of the incidents on Ukraine, although Kyiv has denied involvement.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more