Russia is investigating a large oil depot fire in an area near Ukraine

(Reuters) – Russia said on Monday it would investigate the cause of a large fire in the early hours of the morning at an oil storage facility in the city of Bryansk, 154 km (96 miles) northeast of the border with Ukraine. .

Unverified footage on social media showed what appeared to be two explosions followed by a tower of flames, and an unverified video showed a fire around a huge fuel tank.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry said no one was hurt in the accident.

The ministry said in a statement that the fire broke out at a facility owned by the Transneft oil pipeline company (TRNF_p.MM) At 0200 Moscow time (2300 GMT), there was no need to evacuate any parts of Bryansk, a city of 400,000 people.

The energy minister declined to comment immediately.

Other unverified footage showed what appeared to be another fire burning at a second site in Bryansk.

There was no immediate indication that the fire or fires were linked to Ukraine, which has escalated fierce resistance against Russia since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 in what he called a special operation.

However, there has been unconfirmed speculation on social media that the fire or fires were the result of a Ukrainian missile strike.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has denied or responded to previous suggestions that it had bombed targets inside Russia.

Russian officials said last week that Ukrainian helicopters had hit apartment buildings and wounded seven people in the Bryansk region. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the claim at the time. Read more

(Reuters Reporters Report) Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Gareth Jones and William McClain

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