# Russian mystery fires

vteRussian invasion of Ukraine :
Timeline
February – April 2022
April – August 2022
August – November 2022
November 2022 – June 2023
June – August 2023
September – November 2023
December 2023 – March 2024
April – July 2024
August – December 2024
January 2025 – present
Prelude
Casualties
Territorial control
map
List of engagements
War crimes
Attacks on civilians
Economic impact
Peace negotiations
Collaboration with Russia
Russian emigration
Nuclear risk
Humanitarian impacts
Russian annexation
Treatment of prisoners of war :
A series of unusual fires and explosions have occurred in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which have not been formally explained. There have been many notable arson attacks on military recruitment offices in Russia since the beginning of the war, and there has been speculation that some of the fires or explosions have been the result of sabotage efforts by Russian partisans (such as Svoboda Rossii or Atesh partisan legion) or Ukrainian saboteurs.

## Overview

A "yellow" (medium) terrorist threat level was introduced in Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod oblasts, as well as some districts of Voronezh Oblast, Krasnodar Krai, and northern Crimea. Starting from the end of March, a series of incidents and explosions were reported in border regions of Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, and Voronezh Oblasts. Russian officials reported mortar shelling, drone attacks, and helicopter gunship attacks allegedly coming "from the Ukrainian side".
The Ukrainian side refused to confirm or deny involvement in incidents at strategic locations. There were allegations that some of the fires or explosions were the result of Ukrainian sabotage.
In May, a series of incidents on railway lines in Russia impeded the deployment of troops and military equipment to Ukraine; responsibility for these incidents was claimed by the Internet movement "Stop the Wagons" (a reference to the Russian anti-war slogan "Stop the War").

## List of reported fires
### 2022

| Location | Date | Facility | Deaths | Coordinates |
| Kstovo | 22 March 2022 | Oil depot | | |
| Belgorod | 1 April 2022 | Oil depot | 1 | 50°35′29.8″N 36°40′13.1″E﻿ / ﻿50.591611°N 36.670306°E﻿ / 50.591611; 36.670306 |
| Belgorod region | 12 April 2022 | Railway bridge | | |
| Tver | 21 April 2022 | Central Research Institute of the Aerospace Defense Forces | 7 | |
| Kineshma | 21 April 2022 | Chemical plant | | |
| Korolyov, Moscow Oblast | 22 April 2022 | Industrial zone where many enterprises of the space and rocket industry are located | | |
| Barvikha | 23 April 2022 | Governor's residence in Moscow Region | | |
| Bryansk | 25 April 2022 | Fuel depot holding 5,000 tonnes of fuel. 2nd Branch of Military Unit 55443–90. | | |
| Ussuriysk | 25 April 2022 | Military air base | | |
| Belgorod | 27 April 2022 | Ammunition depot | | |
| Moscow | 28 April 2022 | Fires and explosions on Moscow's Kustanayskaya street | | |
| Ilyinskoye | 30 April 2022 | GRES-2 power plant | | 52°1′26.3″N 75°28′34.5″E﻿ / ﻿52.023972°N 75.476250°E﻿ / 52.023972; 75.476250 |
| Perm | 1 May 2022 | FKP gunpowder plant | | |
| Moscow | 3 May 2022 | "Warehouse of a pro-Kremlin publishing house". | | |
| Nizhny Novgorod | 4 May 2022 | Industrial zone | | |
| Nizhnevartovsk | 4 May 2022 | Military enlistment office | | |
| Kursk | 5 May 2022 | Unknown | | |
| Perm | 8 May 2022 | Aviation college | | |
| Dubovoye, Belgorod Oblast | 11 May 2022 | Unknown | | |
| Teysin, Amursky district | 12 May 2022 | Military installation | | |
| Berdsk | 17 May 2022 | Chemical plant | | |
| Zhukovsky | 21 May 2022 | Fire at the substation in TsAGI (aviation institute) | | |
| Moscow | 24 May 2022 | Saint Peter and Paul Church | | |
| Moscow | 3 June 2022 | Grand Setun Plaza Building, business center with Pension Fund of Russia offices | | |
| Komsomolsk-on-Amur | 4 June 2022 | Rosgvardia (National Guard of the Russian Federation) building | | |
| Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod | 8 June 2022 | Rosatom (Nuclear) Institute of Digital Technologies | | |
| Sergiyev Posad | 8 June 2022 | Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant warehouse (optical, thermal & night-vision sighting systems) | | |
| Vladivostok | 8 June 2022 | Military enlistment office | | |
| Ust-Luga | 10 June 2022 | "Factor" timber terminal owned by oligarch Ramis Deberdeyev | | |
| near Gulevka | 11 June 2022 | Druzhba pipeline | | |
| Angarsk | 23 June 2022 | LPG station (liquefied petroleum gas station) | 0 | |
| Moscow | 3 July 2022 | Residential skyscraper | | |
| near Moscow | 3 August 2022 | e-commerce warehouse | 1 | |
| Volokolamsk | 12 September 2022 | Plastic chip depot warehouse | | |
| Novokuznetsk | 26 September 2022 | Steel plant owned by Putin ally Roman Abramovich | 0 | |
| Moscow | 9 October 2022 | Television and radio tower | | |
| Belgorod | 11 October 2022 | Electricity substation | | |
| Ryazan | 21 October 2022 | Gunpowder factory | 16 | |
| Saint Petersburg | 26 October 2022 | Warehouse | 0 | |
| Stalnoi Kon | 16 November 2022 | Oil depot | 0 | |
| near Saint Petersburg | 19 November 2022 | Gas pipeline | 0 | |
| Moscow | 21 November 2022 | Warehouse near three railway stations | 5 | |
| Angarsk | 27 November 2022 | Angarsk Petrochemical Plant (largest oil refinery in Russia) | 0 | |
| Surazh | 29 November 2022 | Oil storage tank | 0 | |
| Perm | 30 November 2022 | Thermal Power Plant #9 (roof of the turbine room) | 0 | |
| Khimki | 9 December 2022 | MEGA Khimki Shopping Centre, explosion and fire covering 18,000 square metres (190,000 sq ft) | 1 | 55°54′40.1″N 37°23′47.1″E﻿ / ﻿55.911139°N 37.396417°E﻿ / 55.911139; 37.396417 |
| Barnaul | 9 December 2022 | Tyre manufacturing plant | 0 | |
| Moscow | 10 December 2022 | Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts | 0 | 55°44′48.4″N 37°36′11.5″E﻿ / ﻿55.746778°N 37.603194°E﻿ / 55.746778; 37.603194 |
| Balashikha | 12 December 2022 | Shopping center | 0 | 55°43′31″N 37°59′14″E﻿ / ﻿55.72528°N 37.98722°E﻿ / 55.72528; 37.98722 |
| Nizhnekamsk | 12 December 2022 | Synthetic rubber factory | 0 | |
| Saint Petersburg | 13 December 2022 | Machine-building plant | 0 | |
| Angarsk | 15 December 2022 | Angarsk Petrochemical Plant | 2 | |
| Vladivostok | 17 December 2022 | Confectionery factory warehouse | 0 | |
| Snezhinsk | 18 December 2022 | Shopping center | 0 | |
| Verkhnemarkovo, Irkutsk Oblast | 18 December 2022 | Oil and gas condensate field | 0 | 57°20′14″N 107°03′09″E﻿ / ﻿57.33722°N 107.05250°E﻿ / 57.33722; 107.05250 |
| Kalinino, Chuvashia | 20 December 2022 | Gas pipeline | 3 | |
| Kurgan | 20 December 2022 | Kamaz auto service center | 0 | |
| Murmansk | 22 December 2022 | Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier | 0 | |
| Moscow | 23 December 2022 | Military base | 0 | |
| Murmansk | 24 December 2022 | Supply base | 0 | |
| Novosibirsk | 26 December 2022 | Warehouse | | |
| Saint Petersburg | 29 December 2022 | Warehouse | 0 | |
| Kronstadt | 30 December 2022 | Oil tanker | 0 | |
| Rostov Nuclear Power Plant | 31 December 2022 | Transformer substation | 1 | |

### 2023

| Location | Date | Facility | Deaths |
| Novy Oskol | 3 January 2023 | Military facility | |
| Saint Petersburg | 5 January 2023 | Agricultural machinery plant | 2 |
| Moscow | 6 January 2023 | Foreign Ministry | 0 |
| Barnaul | 8 January 2023 | Shopping center | 0 |
| Bratsk | 9 January 2023 | Military enlistment office | 0 |
| Moscow | 10 January 2023 | Auto service | 0 |
| Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk Oblast | 10 January 2023 | Sosnovaya Liniya timber mill | 0 |
| Moscow | 11 January 2023 | Construction site | 0 |
| Saint Petersburg | 12 January 2023 | Warehouse | 0 |
| Manzherok, Altai Republic | 17 January 2023 | Hotel | 0 |
| Angarsk | 21 January 2023 | Oil depot | |
| Kirov | 25 January 2023 | Church | 0 |
| Moscow | 28 January 2023 | Warehouse | |
| Kstovo | 7 February 2023 | Oil refinery | 0 |
| Novoshakhtinsk | 8 February 2023 | Oil refinery | 0 |
| Yeremeytsevo, Yaroslavl Oblast | 13 February 2023 | Pipeline | 0 |
| Krasnoyarsk | 13 February 2023 | Warehouse | 0 |
| Yangiskain, Bashkortostan | 13 February 2023 | Livestock complex | 0 |
| Moscow | 14 February 2023 | Car service station | 0 |
| Kazan | 14 February 2023 | Rubber warehouse | |
| Kolomna | 14 February 2023 | Warehouse | |
| Magadan | 17 February 2023 | Truck warehouse | |
| Ufa | 17 February 2023 | Chemical plant | 0 |
| Krasnoyarsk | 22 February 2023 | Warehouse | 0 |
| Moscow | 26 February 2023 | Textile plant | 0 |
| Tuapse | 28 February 2023 | Oil terminal | 0 |
| Saint Petersburg | 1 March 2023 | Warehouse | 0 |
| Saint Petersburg | 2 March 2023 | Textile warehouse and office complex | 1 |
| Vidnoye, Moscow Oblast | 5 March 2023 | Coke and gas works | |
| Moscow | 7 March 2023 | Interior Ministry building | |
| Kolyubakino, Moscow Oblast | 11 March 2023 | Plastic production facility | 0 |
| Moscow | 11 March 2023 | Spas TV office building | 0 |
| Odintsovo | 13 March 2023 | Warehouse | 0 |
| Rostov-on-Don | 16 March 2023 | FSB building | 1 |
| Dolgoprudny | 18 March 2023 | Chemical plant | 0 |
| Yaroslavl | 23 March 2023 | Yaroslavl Motor Plant | 0 |
| Aramil, Sverdlovsk Oblast | 24 March 2023 | Research-and-production enterprise | 0 |
| Aksay, Rostov Oblast | 25 March 2023 | Warehouse | 0 |
| Pelym, Sverdlovsk Oblast | 30 March 2023 | Gas pipeline | 0 |
| Moscow | 5 April 2023 | Defense ministry | 0 |
| Voronezh | 7 April 2023 | Aircraft plant | 0 |
| Nakhabino, Moscow Oblast | 10 April 2023 | Auto parts warehouse | 0 |
| Kazan | 16 April 2023 | Tank training ground | 0 |
| Stavropol | 4 May 2023 | Concrete production plant | 0 |
| Moscow | 4 May 2023 | Administrative building | 0 |
| Odintsovo | 30 May 2023 | Paper warehouse | 3 |
| Novocherkasskaya, Rostov Oblast | 14 June 2023 | Power station | 0 |
| Voronezh | 24 June 2023 | Fuel depot | 0 |
| Sergiyev Posad | 9 August 2023 | Optics plant | 2 |
| Makhachkala, Dagestan | 14 August 2023 | Fuel station | 35 |
| St. Petersburg | 3 September 2023 | Ruchi oil depot | |
| Krasnoyarsk | 4 October | Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter | |
| Moscow | 26 October 2023 | Thermoelectric Power Plant | |
| Chelyabinsk | 26 November 2023 | Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant | |

### 2024

| Location | Date | Facility | Deaths | Coordinates |
| near St Petersburg | 21 January 2024 | Gas terminal | | |
| Belgorod | 15 February 2024 | Shopping center | 4-6 | |
| Vysotsk | 18 May 2024 | LNG terminal | | 60°37′N 28°34′E﻿ / ﻿60.61°N 28.56°E﻿ / 60.61; 28.56 |
| Vyborg | 19 May 2024 | Oil depot | | 60°43′N 28°44′E﻿ / ﻿60.71°N 28.74°E﻿ / 60.71; 28.74 |
| Moscow | 14 June 2024 | Sukhoi Design Bureau | | |
| Moscow | 24 June 2024 | Platan Research Institute | 8 | |