Jul 31, 2024
YEVGENY BIYATOV/Sputnik/AFP/Getty Images
A large fire ripped through a Russian factory in Yekaterinburg which produces military and space components, local authorities reported on Tuesday.
The blaze engulfed 800 square meters of NPO Avtomatiki, a subsidiary of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, before it was extinguished, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said. Local media reported that the roof and walls of the building collapsed.
The factory is a developer and producer of electronic control systems for missile complexes, and manufactures control systems for Russia’s Soyuz-2 launch vehicles, which are designed for low Earth orbit missions.
There have been numerous mysterious fires in Russia since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Ukraine rarely claims responsibility for strikes on Russian soil.
Photos circulating online showed a huge plume of black smoke billowing into the air.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said firefighters were working to extinguish a blaze that engulfed a building “with chemical products.”
The cause of the fire remains unclear, but local publication E1 reported that welding work was being carried out when the fire started. “Two oxygen cylinders may be located at the site,” the outlet said.
The press service of the plant denied those reports, telling Russia’s state-run news agency RIA Novosti: “We are not commenting on the reason yet. I can say that no welding work was carried out.”
“According to initial information, the nature of the fire is domestic in nature,” a local security force told RIA Novosti.
No casualties were reported. Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment by email.
The Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security of Ukraine (SPRAVDI) shared footage of the fire on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
“Factories engaged in production of integral aspects of Russia’s war machine continued to have a rough month with one of Russia’s largest manufacturers of military electronics going up in smoke today in Ekaterinberg,” SPRAVDI wrote.
Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, described the plant on X as “one of the largest enterprises in the Russian Federation in the field of development and production of control systems and electronic equipment.”
Fires have been reported frequently at buildings linked to Russia’s military throughout the war.
In June, a fire engulfed a building on the grounds of a bureau in Moscow that designs and manufactures some of Putin’s most advanced military aircraft, Moscow news outlet MSK1 reported.
The publication cited one eyewitness as saying that “the fire is not stopping” at the Sukhoi Design Bureau, headquartered in the Moscow region.
The Sukhoi Design Bureau is responsible for many of Russia’s military jets, including the Su-25, Su-27, Su-28, Su-30 and the more advanced Su-35 and Su-57.
https://www.newsweek.com/fire-russian-factory-military-space-yekaterinburg-1932416
Very nice! I want to see a lot more of this. Mafia land must burn.