A building for the border patrol of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) went up in flames in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on Thursday, killing at least one person and injuring at least two, according to Russian media and local officials.
Videos posted to social media sites showed a large fire and thick, gray plumes of smoke billowing from the building. on Siverska Avenue, which runs along the Temernik River. Rostov-on-Don is located about 120 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Rostov region governor Vassily Golubev wrote on Telegram that the fire had spread over 800 square meters — about 9,000 square feet — causing two walls to collapse. Residents of surrounding buildings were evacuated and at least one person was hospitalized with serious injuries, Golubev said.
The FSB is Russia’s main internal security agency, responsible for border control, surveillance and counter-terrorism.
In recent weeks, amid an increasing number of cross-border attacks from Ukraine, including drone strikes, President Vladimir Putin has ordered officials to tighten security in Russia’s border regions, including Kursk, Bryansk, Belgorod and Rostov.
Local residents told Russian media they heard loud explosions before the fire broke out.
Golubev and local emergency services said a short circuit started the blaze by igniting fuel tanks. The Washington Post was unable to independently verify these reports.
Citing local emergency services, Tass, the state-controlled news service, reported that one person had died and at least two others were injured as a result of the fire.
In Russia’s border regions, there has been growing concern over sabotage by groups opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and growing concern after a spate of drone sightings in western Russia and an attack in Bryansk claimed by a rogue Russian nationalist group.
“It is necessary to keep the Russian-Ukrainian border under special control, to create a barrier there for sabotage groups,” Putin said at an FSB board meeting in late February. “The FSB must respond to the intensification of Western intelligence activities against Russia.”
A year of the Russian war in Ukraine
Portraits of Ukraine: Every Ukrainian’s life has changed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion a year ago – in both big and small ways. They have learned to survive and support each other in extreme conditions, in bomb shelters and hospitals, devastated apartment complexes and devastated marketplaces. Scroll through portraits of Ukrainians reflecting on a year of loss, resilience and fear.
Attrition: Over the past year, the war has moved from a multi-front invasion, including Kiev in the north, to an attrition conflict largely centered along a vast area in the east and south. Trace the 600-mile front line between Ukrainian and Russian troops and see where the fighting is concentrated.
Living separately for a year: The Russian invasion, coupled with Ukraine’s martial law that prevents men of fighting age from leaving the country, has forced millions of Ukrainian families to make painful decisions about how to balance security, duty and love, shattering lives that were once intertwined. were intertwined, have become unrecognizable. This is what a train station full of farewells looked like last year.
Deepening the global division: President Biden has proclaimed the strengthened Western alliance forged during the war a “global coalition,” but a closer look reveals that the world is far from united on issues raised by the war in Ukraine. There is ample evidence that the attempt to isolate Putin has failed and that sanctions have not stopped Russia, thanks to its oil and gas exports.
