Fire at russian oil depot spreads, governor denies chaos

The battle against the fire at the oil depot in Proletarsk, Russia, has been ongoing for a week. The situation has still not been brought under control. "The plume of smoke has descended on Proletarsk itself. Residents are complaining that there's no breathable air in the city," writes the portal 161.ru.

Russian media reported that on Friday evening, the fire from the burning oil depot in Proletarsk spread to nearby residential buildings and reeds. The Ministry of Emergency Situations issued the same statement.

"The fire at the oil depot in Proletarsk in the Rostov region has spread beyond the base. The fire first spread to dry vegetation and then to residential buildings," read the reports.

Surprisingly, the region governor denied these reports and stated that the fires were unrelated.

The Shot channel reported that "the entire Chapayev Street, along with residential buildings, was on fire."

According to Unian, authorities even had to ban outdoor events throughout the entire Rostov region temporarily. According to BBC estimates, the smoke from the burning depot stretches a distance of 80 to 120 kilometres.

The authorities of the Rostov region claim that services measure the air quality twice daily and publish the results on their website. "This is not the case: the last such publication appeared on the ministry's website on August 20. There have been no updates since then," reports Syrena.

One of the residents noted in a recording that there is a strong smell of burning, and in the city, "there's no breathable air."

The oil depot near the city of Proletarsk caught fire on the morning of August 18. Local authorities stated that the cause of the fire was "debris from downed drones." The depot contains fuel worth 18 billion rubles. About 22 of the 74 tanks, each with a capacity of 4,990 tonnes, were burned.