Footage circulating on social media late on Thursday showed a huge blaze at a beer warehouse in Odintsovo, a town located a few miles from President Vladimir Putin's official residence in Moscow.
The press service for the Moscow region of the Ministry of Emergency Situations told state-run news agency Interfax on Friday that the fire had grown to an area of 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet). It isn't clear whether there are any casualties, and authorities didn't say how the fire had started.
The incident comes after a number of recent drone attacks on Russia's capital, for which Kyiv hasn't claimed responsibility, in line with its policy of distancing itself from strikes on Russian soil. Moscow reported two Ukrainian drone attacks near the capital this week, saying they were shot down by air defense systems.
The blaze also comes days after a huge explosion was reported at a military-linked facility in Sergiev Posad, a city near Moscow, causing a massive mushroom-like plume of smoke to rise into the sky. At least one person died and some 60 were injured in the August 9 explosion, local authorities said.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
Putin has a residence at Novo-Ogaryovo, close to Odintsovo, one of a number of houses he is believed to have around Russia.
Russian media reported that the smoke from Thursday's warehouse fire was visible for several kilometers. Photos and videos of the blaze shows a huge column of thick, black smoke rising into the sky.
Russian Telegram channel Baza reported that the fire occurred in a beer warehouse on Zelenaya Street, while channel Mash said that according to preliminary information, a construction site was on fire in a residential complex.
Local news outlet MSK1 reported that data from Yandex Maps indicated that the buildings at the address where the blaze broke out contain warehouses of two logistics companies, as well as warehouses belonging to a company which is involved in the beer industry.
Telegram channel Shot reported that local residents heard the sounds of explosions prior to the fire. Newsweek couldn't immediately verify these claims.
A drone attack on Moscow on May 30 marked the first time the capital was hit in a large-scale drone strike since the war began in February 2022.
Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence, told the Kyiv Post last month that recent drone attacks on Moscow prove that Putin can't control the sky. He said "this situation will continue and increase in scale."
Strikes on the key facilities of Russia's security sector in Moscow in July "testify to the fact that the Putin regime is unable to fully control the sky even for the protection of the most important facilities," said Yusov.
Verstka, a news organization founded shortly after the conflict began, reported this week that the number of explosions in Russia quadrupled in 2022, the year Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
