(Reuters)
MOSCOW, Jan 9 – Russian firefighters were on Thursday still battling a fire reported to have broken out at an oil depot near an air base for strategic bombers in the Volga region, more than 24 hours after a Ukrainian drone attack.
“It takes a certain amount of time to complete the burnout process. The situation is under control,” regional governor Roman Busargin said in a Telegram post.
A state of emergency was in effect in Engels, a city of 200,000 people some 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow, after the blaze spread and two firefighters died trying to put it out.
Busargin said the fire had broken out at an industrial site, which he did not name, after a mass drone attack. The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday that it had set fire to an oil depot that serves an air base for Russian nuclear-capable bombers.
Engels is hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine. In December 2022, three Russian air force personnel were killed when a drone was shot down there.
Russian news reports also said the fire was at an oil facility. Videos and photos published on social media showed a large fire sending thick clouds of smoke into the night sky.
