- Enormous explosion hit one of Russia’s major gas pipelines, sending flames and smoke billowing into the sky
- There are fears it may be a ‘tit-for-tat’ after traces of explosives were found at the site of the Nord Stream blast
- The fireball was visible for miles in every direction today after hitting about 14 miles east of St Petersburg
- Swedish prosecutor claimed sabotage was the cause of the Nord Stream pipeline blasts of September 26
An enormous explosion has hit one of Russia’s major gas pipelines, sending flames and smoke billowing into the sky above and prompting fears it was a retribution attack for Vladimir Putin’s continued invasion of Ukraine.
The fireball was visible for miles in every direction after hitting about 14 miles east of St Petersburg, the nation’s second largest city and Putin’s hometown.
One source said: ‘Everything is automatic there, and such explosions by themselves, without external influence, are impossible.’
The blast is believed to have hit the main gas pipeline belonging to Gazprom Transgaz SPB, and could have potentially impacted up to one million people.
Ambulances and emergency vehicles were rushing to the scene this afternoon. Eyewitnesses reported intensive care vehicles also drove to the site of the explosion.
It’s understood investigators and forensic specialists were also at the site of the explosion as they rush to determine the cause.
However, the major blast did not hit close to residential areas, and there are no initial reports of casualties coming out of Russia.
One working theory is that the explosion may have been linked to the war in Ukraine.
Russia has deliberately targeted Ukraine’s vital energy supply lines in recent attacks which have been condemned around the world and left millions of Ukrainians freezing as winter approaches.
And yesterday, a Swedish prosecutor said sabotage was behind the Nord Stream pipeline blasts of September 26, sparking fears this explosion may have been caused by people sympathetic with the plight of Ukraine.
Russia’s defence ministry last month said British Royal Navy personnel blew up the pipelines, a claim that London said was false and designed to distract from Russian military failures in Ukraine.
At the site of the Russian blast today, local power supplies have been switched to using oil in an attempt to ensure domestic heating remains available in the region.
The blast caused disruption to the Severnaya Thermal Power Plant, which heats hundreds of thousands of homes at a time when temperatures are around minus 5C.
The plant provides electrical and thermal energy to factories, residential areas and public buildings in the northern part of the Vyborgsky and Kalininsky districts of St. Petersburg, as well as the settlements of Novoe Devyatkino and Murino, and the Vsevolozhsky district of the Leningrad region.
In total more than 800,000 people receive heat from the Severnaya plant.
Power officials were seeking alternative supplies at the power station near St Petersburg, Putin’s home city.
‘Firefighters and rescuers are extinguishing a fire caused by an explosion on a gas pipeline between Berngardovka and Kovalevo,’ Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko, a Vladimir Putin ally, said.