A large fire broke out on Wednesday morning at the fuel depot, near an important bridge connecting mainland Russia to Crimea, a Russian official said, days after Moscow blamed Ukraine for an attack that set fire to an oil facility in Sevastopol.

The Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia with Crimea, was reopened for automobile trafficPhoto: Kostyantyn Mikhalchevsky / Sputnik / Profimedia

Flames and black smoke billowed from what appeared to be large tanks emblazoned with red “flammable” warnings in a video posted on Russian social media, although Reuters could not independently verify reports of the fire or the video.

“The fire is classified as of the highest degree of complexity,” Veniamin Kondratiev, the governor of the Krasnodar region, located on the other side of Ukraine, reported on the Telegram channel, adding that there were no casualties.

Kondratiev said that the fire broke out in the village of Volna. The village is located near the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait, a major artery for Russian troops as it connects the mainland with the Crimean Peninsula, annexed in 2014 by Ukraine.

According to videos on social networks, a column of smoke can be seen from the Kerch bridge.

The incident comes days after a drone strike set fire to a Russian fuel depot in the Crimean port of Sevastopol on Saturday, in what Moscow called an attack by Ukraine.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Sevastopol, in line with standard practice during the conflict that began in February 2022.

However, the Kiev military said last weekend that the disruption of Russian logistics was part of preparations for a long-awaited counteroffensive, which was facilitated by new shipments of more powerful Western weapons.

Subversion in Bryansk

On Monday, an explosion occurred in the Bryansk region of Russia on the border with Ukraine, which became the second such incident in two days. Russian officials say pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups have been carrying out attacks in the area since hostilities began.

Russia has also stepped up attacks on Ukraine ahead of an expected counteroffensive by the latter, with waves of drones and missiles targeting Kyiv and other areas last week.

Earlier on Wednesday, the authorities in the Ukrainian capital said that they managed to prevent the night attack on Moscow, as air defense systems destroyed all launched drones.

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