Footage circulating online showing mysterious green flashes and explosions around Moscow and other regions have fueled speculation as the country suffers from a spike in industrial fires.
In recent days, Russian social media channels have published footage appearing to show bright flashes of light, often attributed to areas around electrical substations in various regions of Russia and Moscow-annexed territory.
On Tuesday, residents of the industrial city of Podolsk, south of Moscow, reported an "acid green flash" in the early hours of the morning, according to Russian Telegram channel, Shot, known for publishing breaking or exclusive footage. Witnesses spotted an "unusual phenomenon in the sky," the channel reported, adding the cause was a "mystery."
Also on Tuesday, independent Russian outlet Astra reported an explosion at an electrical substation in the Shcherbinka District of Moscow, just north of Podolsk. The cause is unknown, the channel reported, posting a short video showing two bright flashes from a facility in the center of a built-up area.
On Monday, Ukrainian military blogger Igor Sushko shared footage purportedly showing an explosion at an electrical substation in the west-central Russian city of Chelyabinsk. "Locals lost electricity," he added.
A report by 74.RU, a local news outlet, said the series of flashes led to a blackout in communities in and around Chelyabinsk, though the issue was reportedly fixed within a few hours.
On January 23, Astra news agency and Ukrainian outlets reported simultaneous "explosions and fires at two electrical substations" in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok. The cause of the blazes was unknown, the outlet added, publishing footage of several bright flares from two locations.
Earlier this month, independent Russian outlet Meduza reported a "second major accident in heating networks in a week" in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, with more than 161 apartment buildings affected.
Reports last week also suggested that parts of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, lost power after Kyiv's drones struck power substations.
The spate of reported explosions and fires around electrical facilities comes in the midst of a record number of fires at industrial sites and power stations throughout Russia. There were 939 such fires in Russia in 2023, including five in Moscow, compared with 416 in 2022—an increase of more than 125 percent, according to open-source intelligence agency, Molfar.
It is not clear what is behind these explosions, nor whether any of the incidents are related. Online speculation has suggested partisan groups siding with Ukraine against Russia may be partly responsible. A Telegram channel linked to a Russian partisan group hinted at sabotage in Moscow's Shcherbinka district on Tuesday.
Newsweek has reached out to Russian officials for comment via email.
Russia has attempted to target Ukraine's energy infrastructure, including its power and heating grids through the two gruelling winter seasons of the all-out war. On Tuesday, Ukraine's national power grid operator, Ukrenergo, said an overnight wave of Shahed drone strikes had damaged equipment at one of the company's electrical substations in central Ukraine.
Ukraine has retaliated against such attacks, including targeting Russia's oil hubs and transport infrastructure.
Although Kyiv rarely acknowledges responsibility for attacks on internationally-recognized Russian territory, an anonymous source in Ukraine's security service told The Washington Post in late September that Kyiv had carried out a "successful attack" on a Russian electrical substation close to the Ukrainian border using a drone.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
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