A large fatal explosion at a state-owned weapon manufacturing facility in Russia killed at least three people.
Sterlitamak, a Russian city located almost 900 miles away from the capital city of Moscow, saw an explosion when a worker at the arms manufacturing facility dismantled the pipeline at the site. The site was owned by the state-controlled defense conglomerate Rostec, which faces sanctions from the European Union and some countries, including Ukraine.
Rostec manufactures materials used in rocket launching systems and has reportedly played an important role in supplying munitions to frontline Russian soldiers involved in the offensive against Ukraine.
According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, the workers violated some safety guidelines, which resulted in the explosion. The deadly incident is now being investigated to find the real culprits behind the violation of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that are strictly followed in such vulnerable and dangerous workplaces.
This is not the first instance when a Russian military facility faced self-destruction. Just last month, the sky of the city of Yekaterinburg was lit with fire after a weapon manufacturing factory caught fire and saw three back-to-back explosions.
The death of three people in the Rostec bombing marks the latest setback for the Russian forces, which are already grappling with an unprecedented crisis in their war against Ukraine.
Recently, Ukraine grounded one Russian warplane and an ammunition storage center after striking the Morozovsk air base, which was the launching pad of many Russian fighter jets. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Ukraine’s air strike destroyed at least one Russian fighter jet and damaged the other two in the August 3 strikes.
The same air base also faced Ukrainian strikes in April, leading to the destruction of six Russian aircraft.
Ukraine is currently intensifying its offensive operations within mainland Russia, although it mostly does not claim responsibility for these attacks and tries to paint them as random events.
In April, a Ukrainian drone attacked a massive oil facility in Russia’s Tatarstan and struck an aviation plant which was involved in making war equipment.
Despite facing these continuous setbacks, Russian forces are not stepping back and are consistently launching renewed attacks in mainland Ukraine. On August 5, almost 16 Russian missiles shattered more than 11 regions in Ukraine and killed at least three people while wounding multiple others.
In July, Russia also targeted parts of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, Okhmatdyt, and damaged facilities that were responsible for treating thousands of children, including those suffering from chronic diseases like cancer. Two hospital workers died on spot, while the total death toll of the attack remains unknown.
Reportedly, Russian hypersonic missiles struck the hospital, after which scores of parents were seen running to safety while holding their children in their hands. Meanwhile, Russia did not accept responsibility for the attack, claiming that the Ukraine air defense missile hit the hospital.
The hospital’s director stated that this attack destroyed many important medical facilities including the intensive care units that used to treat extremely vulnerable children.
