Russian Gunpowder Plants Keep Catching Fire

An explosion that rocked a gunpowder factory in central Russia for the second time in six months is the latest incident at the country's military facilities since the start of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Social-media users said that, at around 11:30 p.m. on Friday night, a fire preceded an explosion in a factory in the city of Kotovsk, located around 300 miles south of Moscow, in Russia's Tambov region. Russian Telegram channels Baza and Ostorozhno Novosti (Caution, News) reported the blaze took place over 300 square meters (3,200 square feet) and was extinguished after 90 minutes with no reports of casualties.

Friday's incident is the latest unexplained explosion to take place at a Russian military facility. In October, footage of the aftermath of a blast at an explosives factory in Solikamsk, in Russia's central Perm region, showed plumes of smoke billowing over the facility, which reportedly supplies the Russian military with gunpowder and explosives. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment by email.

Ostorozhno Novosti posted footage that showed the flames and reported how residents had described how an explosion had been "heard by the whole city."

There was a fire at the same plant in June, which killed five people and led to a criminal investigation on whether safety rules during construction had been violated.

In April, there was an explosion at a gunpowder factory in Kazan, the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan. A 56-year-old employee lost his hand while testing a projectile, the Telegram channel Shot reported.

The previous month, a gunpowder factory caught fire in the city of Perm. Local media reported that the cause was a faulty electric panel on the outside of the building, independent Russian language news outlet Astra reported.

In May 2022, two staff members were killed after an explosion at a munitions facility in Perm, which produced components Russian missiles and air-defense systems. A second blast at the site was reported by Russian state media in late October 2022.

Another independent Russian-language news outlet Verstka reported in December 2022 that, in the first 10 months of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, fires had broken out at 72 military facilities, including bases, warehouses and enlistment offices.

Citing open-source data, Verstka said that there were cases of arson recorded every month, with an increase in attacks on military registration offices after Putin announced a partial mobilization in September 2022.

Verstka noted fires at facilities in the Moscow and Belgorod regions, as well as at airfields and ammunition depots in annexed Crimea.

Russia has frequently accused Ukraine of targeting its facilities, with Kyiv seldom claiming responsibility immediately, although it is believed to have stepped up its attacks on Russian territory.

The role of partisans within Russia could also be a factor. This was alluded to regarding Saturday's explosion in Tambov by the Telegram channel Rozpartisan, which wrote that Russia's military industrial complex "is a legitimate target for resistance forces."

It added that explosions in the neighboring Ryazan region that led to the derailment of a freight train with 19 cars had hit "a legitimate target for partisans." It added that "the struggle for the liberation of the country continues."

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