Oil depot fire breaks out in Russian city where Kremlin accused Ukraine of helicopter strikes

A huge fire erupted at an oil depot in Russia after explosions rocked the city of Bryansk.

The Druzhba oil storage tanks are around 95 miles from the border with Ukraine, near the Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

A second fire was reported at a nearby military base, but this has not been confirmed.

Although the cause of the fires has not been confirmed, Bryansk is a key transit point for Russian military troops heading to Ukraine. No link to the war in Ukraine has yet been established but Russia has accused Ukraine of targeting the city with helicopter strikes just last week.

Nasa satellites that track fires showed a fire at coordinates that corresponds to a Rosneft oil facility in the city.

Russia’s emergencies ministry said that nobody was injured in the blaze at the depot, which erupted at a facility owned by oil pipeline company Transneft at 2am Moscow time (11pm GMT).

Videos showed two fireballs and thick column of black smoke. Rusisan 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 Druzhba pipeline is the world’s longest oil pipeline and one of the largest oil pipelinke networks in the world.

“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.”

Fire and rescue teams were sent to the scene and reported that the fire was taking place at an oil depot, the ministry said.

It comes after Russian officials accused Ukraine of using helicopters to hit residential buildings and injured seven people in the area last week.

The governor of Belgorod said villages were also attacked and one person was injured.

The Ukrainian government’s Centre for Countering Disinformation accused Russian intelligence services of “a plan to carry out terrorist acts to whip up anti-Ukrainian hysteria” in Russia.

Last month, Ukraine was accused of using two military helicopters to launch a missile attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil in the city of Belgorod.

It was the first time that Russia had accused Ukraine of launching an air strike on its territory since Moscow invaded its neighbour on 24 February.

Ukraine’s defence ministry has declined to comment on several border incidents including the strike on the Belgorod fuel depot.