Moscow: Mystery surrounds 'blaze' at Russian Ministry of Defence building
Russia
has denied reports of a fire at the Ministry of Defence in the centre of Moscow.
Footage circulating on social media showed white smoke rising over the building on Frunzenskaya Embankment late last night.
A woman who shared the video said the smell of burning is awful.
Initial reports said flames had engulfed a balcony of the Soviet complex, but it was later refuted by officials.
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The presence of a fire has not been confirmed, as no fire was detected by the fire brigade upon arrival, the Emergencies Ministry stressed.
Neither is there any information about victims.
It is yet unclear if authorities were seeking to cover up the incident to avoid panic among residents.
The Liberty of Russia Legion, which is made of Russian citizens opposing the war and the Kremlin regime, shared a picture of the alleged fire on Twitter.
Though yet unverified, it showed smoke filling up the sky above the capital.
More:
A nighttime fire in Moscow. Smoke is in Defence Ministry. Unknown patriots are smoking? the tweet read.
It comes amid high alert over sabotage attacks on key facilities in Russia by anti-Putin partisans.
Earlier this month,
a small explosion apparently caused by two drones
took place at the Kremlin.
At the time, Moscow described its as an attempt on the life of the president, and it blamed Ukrainian and the US intelligence for being behind the attack.
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Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 8:54 am