Explosions Reported at One of Russia's Largest Chemical Plants

Explosions have been reported at one of Russia's largest chemical plants in the Rostov region that borders Ukraine.

The pro-Ukrainian Eastern European news outlet Nexta said on Telegram Monday that local residents heard explosions before a fire started at the state-owned Kamensky plant in the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky.

It would mark the latest unexplained explosion to take place at a Russian facility. There have been a string of mysterious fires in Russia since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Ukraine rarely claims responsibility for strikes on Russian soil.

The plant produces "special-purpose chemical products" for Russia's military aimed at "strengthening the country's defensive capabilities," according to the company's website, the AFP news agency reported in 2021 when a fire there caused multiple casualties.

Newsweek couldn't immediately verify the report and has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment by email.

"Workers were evacuated," NEXTA reported, publishing a nine-second clip that shows huge plumes of black smoke rising into the air.

It described the facility as "at one of the largest chemical enterprises in the south of the Russian Federation."

The chemical plant's management denied reports of explosions at the facility, local news agency DON 24 reported.

"All reports from unfriendly sources are untrue," a spokesperson said, adding that the plant is operating normally, and that authorities will do everything to ensure that the enterprise continues to operate as normal.

In August 2023, an independent Russian news outlet found that the number of explosions in Russia quadrupled in 2022, the year President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Verstka, a news organization founded shortly after the conflict began, cited figures from Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations in its claim that a total of 83 explosions occurred in Russia in 2022—more than four times the number recorded in 2021 (20 explosions).

According to the publication, explosions on Russian soil in 2022 killed 55 people and injured 10,647 others. The outlet reported that the yearly number of explosions in Russia hadn't exceeded 20 in the previous 10 years, despite terrorist attacks and gas leaks in residential buildings. It also said that before 2022, the number of victims was in the hundreds, not thousands.

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