A fire broke out at a military airfield in the Moscow region on Wednesday in the latest unexplained blaze to hit a site in Russia, it has been reported.
Images posted on social media show thick black smoke rising near the Chkalovsky military airfield, which is located in the Moscow regional town of Shchelkovo, around 20 miles northeast of the capital’s center.
Another clip shared showed what appeared to be a helicopter being deployed to the site to help extinguish the flames.
The 112 Russian-language Telegram channel said that the fire broke out on the roof of the administrative building where it spread out over 8,600 square feet, although employees managed to evacuate in time and there were no injuries.
Moscow region, Russia ❗
Black Bavovna 🔥🔥🔥💨
There is a fire in the area of the Chkalovsky military airfield in the Moscow region. There is no official information about the cause of the emergency yet. Footage of a fire at the Chkalovsky military airfield in the Moscow… pic.twitter.com/SOPAqlr4az— LX (@LXSummer1) October 16, 2024
It is not clear what caused the fire and Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment.
Kyiv has not commented on the fire and does not typically comment immediately on incidents within Russian territory, but Ukrainian internal affairs adviser Anton Gerashchenko posted the video of the blaze, adding, “Russian media report a fire on Chkalovsky military airfield in Moscow region.”
Other pro-Ukrainian social media users noted the blaze with relish, such as Jay In Kyiv who wrote that a “building on the territory of the Chkalovsky military airfield is on fire in the Moscow region of Russia. Careless smokers??”
The Shchelkovo city administration told news outlet MSK1 that the cause of the fire was “a short circuit in the headquarters building.”
Screen grab via social media
However, the military significance of the airfield has made it a frequent target for Ukrainian drone attacks, according to reports.
In August, Russian sources reported that Ukrainian drones had targeted the site which were repelled by air defenses.
On September 27, 2023, a massive fire broke out in Shchelkovo, only nine days after Ukraine’s defense intelligence said unknown saboteurs had caused an explosion at the nearby airfield which damaged three aircraft—an Antonov An-148, an Ilyushin Il-20, and a Mi-28 helicopter.
It comes as Ukraine has stepped up its drone strikes on Russian military and energy infrastructure in a bid to hurt Moscow’s war machine.
Last week, two large fires erupted at the largest oil depot terminal in Russian-occupied Crimea. The same site where a previous Ukrainian drone strike had sparked a blaze that burned for several days.
Satellite imagery showed the extent of the smoke which billowed out from the site that had also been targeted by a Ukrainian drone strike in March.
