A huge cloud of black smoke has drifted over Moscow. The clouds of fire could be seen throughout the city. Russia is fighting fire throughout the country.
Moscow - Huge clouds of black smoke can be seen over Moscow in several videos circulated online on Sunday (7 May). It is said to be a major fire on a construction site about 8 kilometers from the FSB headquarters. In addition to fires caused by suspected Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia is currently also fighting forest fires in several regions of the country - in some cases a state of emergency has already been declared.
Cloud of smoke over Moscow. © Screenshot Twitter, EuromaidanPress/ Baza
Russia is burning: clouds of smoke over Moscow
Videos show a huge cloud of black smoke that is said to have been seen from all over Moscow on Sunday (7 May). Among other things, the Ukrainian news portal Euromaidan Press posted a video of the fire on Twitter. The fire allegedly broke out at a construction site of a Russian real estate construction company after garbage and building materials caught fire, the news portal reports, citing reports from Moscow residents. The cause of the fire is still unclear.
This is not the first time that Russia has had to fight major fires recently. In recent days and weeks, there have been many fires of infrastructure facilities such as oil refineries, which are said to have been caused by drone attacks. The attacks are interpreted as preparation for a Ukrainian spring offensive in the Ukraine war that will begin soon. Explosions over the Kremlin, allegedly caused by drones that, according to Russia, were supposed to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin, had recently caused a stir.
Forest fires rage in several regions of Russia
But Russia is also struggling with fires that were partly caused by climate change: forest fires are raging in three Russian regions. At least one person was killed: A 49-year-old died while trying to extinguish a fire in the West Siberian region of Tyumen, the regional administration said on Monday. Due to unusual heat waves, the forest fire season in Russia has been starting earlier and earlier for several years.
In the Sverdlovsk region, 65 forest fires are active. Several villages had to be evacuated and two gunpowder depots were burned down by wildfire, as Ekaterinburg Online reports. A state of emergency was declared in Sverdlovsk. According to his own statements, the Russian Minister of Emergencies, Alexander Kurenkov, traveled to the Kurgan region in the Urals. As a result of the extinguishing work on site, in which almost 1300 people are said to have been involved, nine out of thirteen fires in this region were brought under control. (kasa/AFP)
