In Photos: Outbreak Of Mystery Fires Hits Russia
- By RFE/RL
A deadly fire at an oil refinery in Russia on December 15 is the latest in a string of major blazes that have hit Russia over the past month. Some of the blazes have destroyed facilities that were vital for Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
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December 15: The aftermath of a "fire and explosion" that killed two people at the Angarsk oil refinery, near Lake Baikal in Siberia. The facility is one of Russia's largest oil-processing plants, with an annual production capacity of more than 10 million tons of oil.
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December 12: A fire that collapsed part of the roof of the Stroipark shopping center in Balashikha, just east of Moscow. According to Russian media reports, an employee of the shopping center received burns to his respiratory tract while trying to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived.
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A map showing the locations of significant recent fires across Russia.
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December 10: Firefighters battle a blaze that began in the Lopukhin Mansion, a historic building in central Moscow that is part of the Pushkin State Museum Of Fine Arts.
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December 9: Firefighters during a blaze at a tire production factory in Barnaul in southern Russia. Local reports suggest the factory would be out of action for around six months. The 1,200 people who worked at the plant have been placed on leave.
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December 9: A gutted OBI home and garden retail store in northwest Moscow after a blaze destroyed the building. Amateur video shows a chain of large explosions taking place during the blaze in which one person was killed.
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December 7: A fire burns in a shopping center in Nazran, Ingushetia, in the North Caucasus region. The fire reportedly began with an explosion caused by gas, and injured four people.
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December 6: An oil-storage tank burns at an airfield in Kursk, a town around 90 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The regional governor blamed the blaze on a drone attack. Ukraine is widely believed to have been behind the strike.
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December 3: A car center ablaze in St. Petersburg. The center was a hub for car parts, tire shops and mechanics' stores.
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December 2: Firefighters hose down the roof of a meat-processing plant in Moscow. More than 100 firefighters were needed to extinguish the blaze. Twelve people were evacuated from the building and no one was injured.
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November 30: Firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse and production facility for plastics in Volgograd in southwest Russia. The fire covered an area of some 1,500 square meters and took eight hours to extinguish. No casualties were reported.
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November 30: A massive blaze engulfs diesel fuel tanks in the Surazh district of the Bryansk region in western Russia. Unconfirmed reports blamed the fire on incendiary explosives dropped from a drone.
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November 25: The aftermath of a blaze in the Yelokhovsky shopping center in Moscow that was brought under control before it could spread to surrounding stores.
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November 20: People film a fire as it engulfs a warehouse in central Moscow. Two bodies were later found in the wreckage of the building. Local reports claim an explosion took place during the blaze.
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November 19: A fireball engulfs a gas pipeline in a forested area just outside St. Petersburg. Video that captured the outbreak of the blaze shows an explosion and fireball that could clearly be seen from the center of the city.
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November 19: A blaze in an apartment block that killed at least nine people, including three children, in the town of Tymovskoye on Russia's far eastern Sakhalin Island. The tragic incident was blamed on a gas explosion.
