Ukrainian drone sparks state of emergency in Russia's Proletarsk after lighting up oil facility

Russia introduced a state of emergency in the southern Russian city of Proletarsk on Monday (August 19) as firefighters battled a blaze sparked by a Ukrainian drone strike at a fuel storage facility.

For more than 24 hours, firefighters battled to extinguish the blaze at a fuel storage warehouse in the city of around 20,000 people. The fire at the oil facility started on Sunday morning and was seen raging for a second day, reports AFP.

Firefighters hurt

As per local governor Vasily Golubev, 18 firefighters were hurt whiletackling the blaze that was still "continuing".

Four of the firefighters had moderate-to-severe burns, said Golubev, adding that he had ordered more medics to go to the Proletarsk blaze site.

On Telegram, he stated, "Given the difficulty of the fire in the Proletarsk district, a high alert regime has been turned into a state of emergency."

He also said that the "forces and means" to put out the fire had been increased.

Are locals at threat?

Citing local city administration, the Russian state media reported that there was no threat of the fire spreading to the residential areas. Authorities have urged the people to "not to give in to panic."

Kyiv has been attacking Russia's oil infrastructure for more than a year.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the strikes "fair" retaliation for Moscow's attacks on his country.

Recently, on August 6, Ukraine also launched a surprise incursion into the Kursk region.

On Monday, Zelensky said that his troops were meeting their objectives in Ukraine's offensive in the Kursk region.

"We are achieving our goals. This morning we have another replenishment of the (prisoner of war) exchange fund for our country."

The Kursk offensive is the biggest such attack by Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Kyiv officials, including Zelensky, have said that this offensive was aimed at creating a "buffer zone" on Russian territory to shield its own population from strikes.

Additionally, the war-torn nation has said that the Kursk incursion is an attempt to force Russia to negotiate on "fair terms".

(With inputs from agencies)