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By Isabel van Brugen
News Reporter
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Videos circulating on social media show a huge fire engulfing a cargo terminal in Novorossiysk, a port city on the Black Sea in southern Russia.
The fire, which was reported on Friday morning, spread to an area of 1,300 square meters, according to Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti. It released a video of the incident showing containers on fire and the sky filled with black smoke. The news agency later said the blaze was extinguished at 12.21 p.m. local time.
It's the latest in a series of mysterious fires to hit Russia throughout President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022. Russia has blamed Ukraine for recent drone attacks in the country. However, Kyiv hasn't claimed responsibility, in line with its policy of distancing itself from strikes on Russian soil.
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Russian Telegram channel SHOT also published footage from the scene, saying that emergency services were alerted to the fire just after 9 a.m. local time. Smoke was reportedly visible from different areas of the city.
Local media reported that 42 firefighters and 14 pieces of equipment were working to tackle the blaze. No casualties have been reported, and the cause of the fire remains unknown.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment via email.
The cargo terminal where the fire broke out is located next to a train station, according to RIA Novosti, which reported that Russia's Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office was conducting checks in the area. It noted that as the station doesn't belong to the state-owned Russian Railways, train journeys with the company haven't been affected.
Russian uses Novorossiysk not only for industrial trade, but also as a military base for its Black Sea Fleet.
On the night of August 4, the Russian ship Olenegorsky Gornyak was towed back to Novorossiysk port after being struck by a surface drone.
Britain's Defense Ministry said at the time that it was the largest Russian naval vessel seriously damaged or destroyed since the sinking of the cruiser Moskva on April 13, 2022.
It described the strike on the vessel as a "significant blow" to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which had moved the majority of its units to the port city due to the threat of strikes by Ukraine on Sevastopol in annexed Crimea, which Ukraine has vowed to recapture.
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