Russian security services building hit by deadly blaze near Ukraine
- Social media images showed massive fire in port city of Rostov; several buildings were evacuated after ‘explosion of fuel containers’, said regional governor
- ‘Ukraine doesn’t interfere, but watches with pleasure’, said a senior presidential aide in Kyiv
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One person was killed and two more were injured in southern Russia on Thursday when a fire tore through security service offices in a region bordering Ukraine.
Kyiv denied direct involvement in the incident but said authorities were following the events “with pleasure”.
Images circulating on social media showed a massive blaze tearing through the office block in a built-up urban area with a huge plume of black smoke billowing over the fire.
Several nearby buildings in the port city of Rostov, some 120km (75 miles from the Ukraine border), were evacuated as a precaution, the regional governor announced.
The official, Vasily Golubev, said the fire spread over 800 square metres (8,600 square feet) and was sparked by a “short circuit”, causing “the explosion of fuel and lubricant containers”.
There have been several incidents of reported sabotage attributed to Ukrainian partisans within Russian territory since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in February last year.
A senior Ukrainian presidential aide, Mykhaylo Podolyak, said the blaze pointed to “panic” and “internal conflict”.
“Ukraine doesn’t interfere, but watches with pleasure …” he added on Twitter.
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A former spokeswoman for President Volodymyr Zelensky distributed images of the fire on social media but said Kyiv was not necessarily responsible.
“Don’t rush to accuse Ukraine. It might be provocation or domestic political fight,” Yulia Mendel said on Twitter.
