A mysterious fire broke out at a Russian chemical plant today, and suspicions are growing that Ukraine is targeting infrastructure in Russia.
The fire engulfed a plastics factory in Berdsk in the central Novosibirsk region, one of several suspected incidents of sabotage in Russia in recent weeks.
Video showed thick black smoke billowing from a burning building as the fire erupted through the chemical plant’s roof.
The fire apparently destroyed production facilities, offices and a canteen. There were no reports of deaths.
It’s the latest in a string of infernos at industrial and military facilities in Russia since Vladimir Putin’s men invaded Ukraine, with some experts saying Ukraine is responsible for the “sabotage” of facilities — though Kyiv bears no responsibility for the took damage.
The fire engulfed a plastics factory in Berdsk in the central Novosibirsk region, one of several suspected incidents of sabotage in Russia in recent weeks
A fire raged Tuesday at a chemical plant in Berdsk, in the Novosibirsk region of Russia
Over a dozen fires have been reported in Russia since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, with the number of incidents increasing in recent weeks as Moscow enters the 12th week of the war.
The most recent Berdsk fire employed nearly 50 firefighters on the scene, destroying about 22,000 square feet.
The fire reportedly started on polyethylene products on the first floor of the building.
Another fire on May 4 occurred in a railroad tanker containing unspecified solvents at the site of the huge Caprolactam factory in Dzerzhinsk, which once made chemical weapons.
Over a dozen fires have been reported in Russia since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, with the number of incidents increasing in recent weeks as Moscow enters the 12th week of the war
The footage shows a large fire in the Dzerzhinsky industrial zone in the Nizhny Novgorod region
Flames light up the night sky over Bryansk, a Russian city about 70 miles from the Ukrainian border, after suspected Ukrainian rocket attacks hit oil storage facilities there overnight
SCHEDULE OF POSSIBLE SABOTAGE IN RUSSIA:
March: On an unconfirmed date in March, five Moscow recruitment centers were set on fire in the Voronezh, Sverdlovsk and Ivanovo regions
April 21: Russian officials said 17 people died at an aerospace defense research institute in Tver, 180 km northwest of Moscow, while developing the S-400 AD system and the Kalibr missile
April 21: The Dmitrievsky chemical plant in the town of Kineshma, 950 km from Ukraine, exploded
April 22 Up to five Russian military posts were set on fire in Ivanovo
April 22: The Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia is filmed in flames in Russia
April 23: A hydroelectric power station collapses, Kuban
April 25: Bryansk Oil Depot, a production facility of Rosneft,
April 25 Ussuriysk airbase reported on fire
April 28: A fire is filmed at a construction site in Minsk, Belarus
April 28: Cars marked with the Russian nationalist symbol “Z” are set on fire in Moscow
April 29: Several buildings burn in Russia after a fire raged in a shopping center in Ishim
April 30: A 120-megawatt GRES-2 coal-fired power plant was reportedly sabotaged in Sakhalin
May 1: Videos document burning fuel oil tanks at Mytishchi, a fuel depot just 30 minutes from the Kremlin
May 1: Photos indicate that a railway bridge in Russia’s Kursk region was destroyed by sabotage
May 2: The film shows a fire at a munitions factory in Perm, near the Ural Mountains
May 3: A fire broke out in a four-storey pro-Kremlin publishing house in the Bogorodsk district of the Moscow region
May 4: Footage of a major fire in the Dzerzhinsky industrial zone in the Nizhny Novgorod region has surfaced
May 15. A fire broke out at a chemical plant producing plastics in Berdsk, Novosibirsk region
A few days earlier, on May Day, a gigantic fire broke out that killed three women at the explosives manufacturer Perm Gunpowder Plant, which supplies the army.
The plant manufactures Grad and Smerch multiple rocket systems used by Russian forces in Ukraine, as well as air defense systems and anti-tank shells. It also supplies gunpowder for small arms.
Meanwhile, on April 25, flames lit the skies over Russia after suspected Ukrainian missile attacks blew up two oil storage facilities supplying Putin’s forces fighting for control of the Donbass.
The Transneft-Druzhba oil depot in the city of Bryansk, about 70 miles from the Ukrainian border, caught fire before a second fire broke out at a nearby military facility about 15 minutes later, Russian state media said.
Video from the moment one of the fires erupted appeared to capture the sound of an incoming missile before a large explosion and fireball. Bryansk is a logistical hub for Russian forces fighting Ukraine in the Donbass, while the Druzhba pipeline is one of the main routes for Russian oil to Europe.
Days earlier, on April 21, the Dmitrievsky Chemical Plant in Kineshma burned down.
This was the largest Russian manufacturer of chemical solvents used in a wide variety of industries, including defense equipment.
Another fire that has raised questions of sabotage occurred at a Russian missile design institute, killing 22 weapons officials and designers.
At least 13 staff at the Tver facility remain in hospital among 54 who were rescued from the wild blaze.
Another 98 were safely evacuated, and one is missing, presumed dead, after the April 21 fire at the Russian Aerospace Forces Central Research Institute
This and other mysterious fires could be aimed at “disabling its weapons of mass destruction from brinkmanship,” says a US expert.
Professor Douglas London of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a 34-year-old retired CIA operations officer told Foreign Policy Journal that some of the recent incidents – including oil deportation fires – may have been war-related sabotage.
“The US and allies’ facilitation of a Ukrainian sabotage campaign in Russia represents a significant and escalating price that Putin cannot afford,” he said.
Russia’s leading independent arms manufacturer urged Russian authorities to be more suspicious of sabotage amid the incendiary wave.
Vladislav Lobaev said: “The Dmitrievsky chemical plant in the city of Kineshma burned down.
“It is the largest Russian producer of chemical solvents used in a wide variety of industries….
“Separately, the building of the Defense Research Institute in Tver burned to the ground …
“It was at this institute that the Iskanders and the S-400 were developed.”
He warned: “It’s hard to believe in coincidences like this, especially with big or so iconic companies.
“In wartime, it is necessary to more actively work out the version of sabotage.”