Large fire at oil depot in Russia's Bryansk, near Ukraine

A large fire broke out early on Monday at an oil storage facility in the Russian city of Bryansk, the emergencies ministry said, adding that no one was injured.

There was no immediate indication that the fire was related to the war in Ukraine, although Russian officials said last week that Ukrainian helicopters hit residential buildings and injured seven people in the area.

In a statement, the ministry said the fire took place at a facility owned by oil pipeline company Transneft at 2 a.m. Moscow time (2300 GMT), and there had been no need to evacuate any parts of the city of 400,000 people.

Russia's investigative committee said in a separate statement that its head, Alexander Bastrykin, has ordered a probe into the incident. Ukrainian officials have so far made no comment on the fire and its possible cause.

Bryansk is an administrative centre 154 km (96 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian border, near the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, and is about 380 km (236 miles) distant from Moscow, the Russian capital.

Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine, now entering their third month, a special military operation.

SOURCE: REUTERS