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Deadly explosions and inferno rip through Russian FSB building 75 miles from Ukraine after ammunition detonates in warehouse
Series of explosions rocked the FSB building before it burst into flames today
The building is located in city of Rostov-on-Don, located 75 miles from Ukraine
By RACHAEL BUNYAN and WILL STEWART FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 06:04 EDT, 16 March 2023 | UPDATED: 08:42 EDT, 16 March 2023
A deadly fire today broke out at a Russian FSB building located 75 miles from Ukraine after ammunition detonated in a warehouse.
A series of explosions rocked the building, which belongs to the FSB's border patrol section, before it burst into flames in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don this morning.
One person was killed and two others were injured after the raging inferno ripped through the building.
Video shows the building engulfed in flames, as a plume of thick black smoke billows into the air in a built-up area of the city.
Eyewitnesses claimed that ammunition detonated in the FSB's warehouse, leaving at least person dead, reports Tass news agency.
Local residents reported hearing explosions before the building burst into flames in the southern Russian city of this morning, TASS news agency reports
A series of explosions were heard every 10 seconds after the ammunition caught fire, eyewitnesses said.
'The explosion was very loud, not a pop. We heard one explosion, acquaintances who live closer to the place of the fire claim that there were two, but we clearly heard only one,' a witness who lives close to the FSB building told Russian news outlet 161.ru.
Another eyewitness said: 'The building just exploded right in front of my eyes. I was chatting on the phone when it exploded.
'Windows all flew out, everything collapsed. I think some must be injured inside there.
'The explosion was so strong the rooftop rose up and fell back. Something big exploded inside there. There are servicemen inside there.'
The eyewitness told how an FSB officer said to the crowd: 'Why the f*** are you f***ing about, run! We need fire extinguishers, quick!'
Local authorities said they had dispatched emergency services to the area which has been cordoned off.
'Emergency services were dispatched... details are being clarified,' the press office of the emergency services in Rostov-on-Don said in comments carried by the state-run TASS news agency.
The emergency services said that the fire had expanded to cover 880 square metres of ground.
Russia fears that a spate of explosions and fires may be caused by sabotage by people opposed to Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.
Putin is a former head of the FSB secret service which is Russia's main counter-intelligence force, and includes border guards.
There have been several incidents of reported sabotage attributed to Ukrainian partisans within Russian territory since the Kremlin deployed troops to Ukraine in February last year.
There was no immediate official comment from Kyiv on the blaze in southern Russia.
A former spokeswoman for Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky distributed images of the fire on social media but said Kyiv was not necessarily responsible.
'Don't rush to accuse Ukraine. It might be provocation or domestic political fight,' Yulia Mendel said on Twitter.
There were no reports on incoming missiles or drone attacks.
FSB operatives today sought to stop filming of the site of the carnage in Rostov.
Ukrainian intelligence chief, Major-General Kyrylo Budanov told Forbes last month that Russia was seeing many usual explosions and fires.
'Much of this is no accident,' he said. 'Something is constantly on fire [in Russia].
'Signalling equipment on railways, it lights up several times a day, on various highways constantly for two to three hours, sometimes for five to six hours, traffic gets suspended.'
Local residents reported hearing explosions before the FSB building burst into flames in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don this morning.
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