Fire Engulfs Russian Airport 180 Miles From Putin's Black Sea Resort—Video

A fire engulfed an airport in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Wednesday, videos circulating on social media showed.

Footage shared by Russian Telegram channels showed plumes of black smoke rising above the airport, which is located 180 miles from Russian President Vladimir Putin's residence in Sochi.

There have been a string of mysterious fires in Russia since Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Ukraine rarely claims responsibility for strikes on Russian soil.

"Something is happening at Sochi airport," the Crimean Wind Telegram channel said.

The Telegram channel of independent Russian journalism project ASTRA published footage taken by a Sochi resident who said he believed a plane was on fire.

Shortly later, the airport's press service said in a post on Telegram that the smoke was due to training activities carried out by the airport emergency services with employees of the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations. It said fire was planned for emergency services to practice extinguishing the blaze.

"These exercises do not impact airport operations or flight services and are conducted to improve the readiness and professionalism of our rescue services," it said, adding that the drills involved practicing "various emergency scenarios" including extinguishing fires and evacuating passengers.

It added: "We apologize for any inconvenience this exercise may cause. However, we are confident that they will help us ensure safety and protection."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry via email for comment.

It came as the country was attacked by more than 60 Ukrainian drones, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, with targets including a Federal Security Service building in the southern Belgorod region and an oil refinery—both of which sustained damage.

In an interview with state-run TV channel Russia-1 and news agency RIA Novosti on Tuesday, Putin accused Ukraine of carrying out its recent barrage of attacks on Russian soil with the aim of "frustrating the elections in Russia" or "interfering with them."

The presidential election is taking place from March 15-17.

"Another goal is to get some kind of trump card in a possible negotiation process," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky defended the attacks on Tuesday, saying it was "totally fair" to do so in retaliation for Russian attacks in Ukraine that have killed and injured civilians.

"I think everyone sees that our drones work and they work at long distance," Zelensky said. "Our ability for long-distance strikes is the real way to move towards security for everyone."

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