Oil depot blaze breaks out in Russian city

After explosions rocked the city of Bryansk, a massive fire erupted at an oil store in Russia.

Near the Sumy and Chernihiv areas, the Druzhba oil storage tanks are about 95 miles from the Ukrainian border.

A second fire was reported near a military base, but it was not confirmed.

Bryansk is a crucial transit route for Russian military soldiers moving to Ukraine, despite the fact that the origin of the flames has yet to be determined. Although no link to Ukraine’s conflict has been found, Russia has accused Ukraine of attacking the city with helicopter strikes just last week.

Fires were seen by Nasa satellites at coordinates that corresponded to a Rosneft oil plant in the city.

The fire at the depot, which erupted at a facility controlled by oil pipeline operator Transnet around 2 a.m. Moscow time, left no one hurt, according to Russia’s emergency ministry (11pm GMT).

Russian military Telegram channel Voenny Osvedomitel said the second fire was “presumably the 120th arsenal of the Main Rocket and Artillery Directorate”.

Military analyst Rob Lee tweeted: “It sounds like this was an air or missile strike. Most likely, a Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile, which has the range to reach both targets if they are deployed close to the Ukrainian-Russian border.”

“The Emergency Situations Ministry has confirmed there’s a fire,” the government’s press office said.

“There’s also a confirmation that it’s the fuel tanks.”