07 February 2023 , 12:13
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A huge oil refinery has gone up in flames in Russia with footage from the scene this morning showing black plumes of smoke billowing from the facility.
The inferno at a giant Lukoil installation near Nizhny Novgorod, some 300 miles east of Moscow, is the latest mystery fire to hit key energy installations amid the war against Ukraine.
Footage showed large flames from a damaged gasoline pipe at the complex in Kstovsky district.
Ten fire brigades were sent to tackle the blaze, and there was a call for reinforcements amid a "difficult situation", according to local reports.
There were no initial reports of casualties.
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Russia has been hit by a succession of fires at strategic sites amid suspicions that some are sabotage in protest at Vladimir Putin.
The Lukoil Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez facility is one of Russia’s largest oil refineries, with a capacity of 17 million tonnes per year.
Lukoil Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez is one of Russia's largest oil refineries (social media/e2w)
There were no initial reports of casualties as a result of the fire (social media/e2w)It produces automotive, aviation and diesel fuels, as well as petroleum bitumen and paraffins.
Blazes have been seen at strategic oil and gas facilities including storage depots, military facilities and shopping malls, sometimes following explosions in many Russian regions, including Moscow.
A fire broke out on board Russia’s only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, on December 22 in Arctic port Murmansk while the vessel was under repairs from an earlier major inferno.
A fire with dense smoke also hit Russia's foreign ministry in Moscow.
Last month multiple explosions and a huge inferno ignited a fuel storage depot and railway carriages in Angarsk, Irkutsk region.
Thick black smoke from the disaster was seen 27 miles away in Irkutsk.
Large flames could be seen billowing from the oil refinery on Tuesday morning (social media/e2w)The explosions - reported by locals in Angarsk - and inferno in biting minus 30C cold was the third major incident in the region in five weeks.
On December 19, Armageddon-like flames shot into the sky from the giant blaze at the Markovskoye condensate treatment unit at Ust-Kut.
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Three days earlier a massive fire at Angarsk Oil Refinery was triggered by a blast compared to an earthquake or plane crash.
Military enlistment offices have also been repeatedly attacked.
Last week a top secret Russian military intelligence training centre was hit by a major fire.
The inferno was at Senezh in Moscow region, at a GRU spy agency facility.