Large explosion at Russian ammunition depot east of Moscow

Explosions have taken place at a Russian ammunition depot east of Moscow, the country’s defence ministry has said.

The blasts occurred in an ammunition warehouse at a defence facility in the western Vladimir region on Tuesday. The site is believed to be a key ammunition storage site for the Russian army.

Russia’s military blamed the blast on ammunition which had detonated after the storage building caught fire due to a “violation of safety requirements”.

A state of emergency has been declared in the Kirzhach district and residents of nearby villages have been evacuated.

Both Russian and Ukrainian media channels and Telegram accounts posted videos and pictures from the site, showing a raging blaze with metres-high flames and mushroom clouds from the explosion.

In a statement, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said: “[On Tuesday], as a result of a fire on the territory of a military unit in the Vladimir region, ammunition stored in a warehouse detonated.

“The cause of the fire is a violation of safety requirements when working with explosive materials.”

It added that there had been no casualties. A commission has been set up to investigate the incident.

The site is a facility in the 51st Arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate, some 130 kilometres (80 miles) north-east of the Russian capital, local media reported.

Russian media reported one resident in a village close to the site had witnessed a shell from the warehouse falling on a neighbour’s house. The shell did not explode and no one was home at the time, Tass state news agency reported.

The governor of the Vladimir region has said a blast had occurred in the district and more details would be released later.

Alexander Avdeyev also threatened journalists and residents with fines if they shared unofficial information about the blast.