Suspicious fire breaks out at Russian aerospace institute that develops fighter jets and rockets
Suspicious fire breaks out at Russian aerospace institute that develops fighter jets and rockets in latest blaze to hit the country amid fears of Ukrainian saboteur campaign
Fire broke out at a major Russian aerospace institute only 43 miles from MoscowThe institute has been crucial to the development of aircraft fighters and rocketsA retired CIA operative spoke of a ‘Ukrainian sabotage campaign inside Russia’
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Firefighters were today battling a blaze at a major Russian aerospace institute.
The blaze with thick black smoke was at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute in Zhukovsky, a facility involved in research on Russian warplanes.
The inferno seen on videos is the latest at strategic Russian sites during the war with Ukraine with suspicions that some may be sabotage.
The fire began at a power substation supplying the institute, 43 miles southeast of Moscow, which has been crucial to the development of aircraft such as the Su-27, MiG-29, and MiG-31 fighters as well as various rockets.
A fire has broken out at a power substation supplying the institute, 43 miles from Moscow
The institute has been crucial to the development of aircraft such as the Su-27, MiG-29, and MiG-31 fighters as well as various rockets
The institution was also involved in the development of the Tu-204 and the Il-96-300
The fire began at a power substation supplying the institute. There were no reports of casualties from the inferno
It was also involved in the development of the Tu-204 and the Il-96-300.
The Ministry of Emergencies said: ‘At 9am a message was received about a fire in a transformer substation, at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute in Zhukovsky.’
There were no reports of casualties from the inferno.
It was the first scientific institution in Russia to combine basic studies, applied research, structural design, pilot production and testing.
Recent weeks have seen a succession of fires including a blaze on Tuesday at a chemical plant in Novosibirsk.
Two chemical plants with links to the defence industry suffered fires, one at Kaprolaktam, in Dzerzhinsk, which once made chemical weapons, on 4 May, the other two weeks earlier at the Dmitrievsky plant in Kineshma.
Another fire raised questions of sabotage was at a Russian missile design institute in Tver in which 22 weapons officials and designers died.
This — at Russia’s Central Research Institute of the Aerospace Defence Forces — and other mysterious fires, for example at oil depots, may have been sabotage attacks by Ukraine or the West directed at Vladimir Putin, aimed at seeking ‘to dissuade his weapons of mass destruction brinkmanship’, says a US expert.
Professor Douglas London, of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and a retired 34-year CIA operations officer, told Foreign Policy journal that some recent incidents – including oil deport fires – may have been sabotage linked to the war.
‘US and allied enabling of a Ukrainian sabotage campaign inside Russia telegraphs a significant and escalating cost Putin can ill afford,’ he said.
The map shows possible incidents of sabotage in Russia which have broken out since the start of the war in Ukraine
Russia’s leading independent gun-maker urged the Russian authorities to be more suspicious of sabotage over the wave of fires.
Vladislav Lobaev said: ‘The Dmitrievsky chemical plant in the city of Kineshma burned down.
‘It is the largest Russian manufacturer of chemical solvents used in a variety of industries….
‘Separately, the building of the defence research Institute in Tver burned to the ground…
‘It was at this institute that the Iskanders and the S-400 were developed.’
He warned: ‘It is hard to believe in such coincidences, especially with large or such iconic enterprises.
‘In wartime, it is necessary to work out the version of sabotage more actively.’
