A fuel depot caught fire in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Wednesday and was later extinguished, with authorities saying a cause was being clarified while some accounts pointed to a drone strike.
Video footage on social media showed the depot — which had the name of one of Russia’s main oil companies “Rosneft” written on it — on fire, with firefighters working around it.
The fire took place near Sochi International Airport in the city’s district of Adler.
Adler is a popular beach and mountain resort, known for its Olympic Park built for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Authorities did not immediately give a reason for the fire, saying it was being “clarified”.
Since the start of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine last year, numerous Russian cities have been targeted by drone strikes which authorities have blamed on Kyiv.
The Telegram channel Baza, known to be close to Russian security services, claimed that the fire in Sochi was caused by a drone strike.
“In the Adler district of Sochi, a diesel fuel tank caught fire early in the morning,” the governor of Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, said on Telegram.
“There are no victims,” he added, saying the fire had spread over 96 square metres (1,000 square feet).
“The reasons for the incident are being clarified.”
In a statement later Wednesday, the mayor of Sochi, Alexei Kopaygorodskiy, said the fire had been put out.
He said the fire took place on Aviatsionnaya street, across from Sochi International Airport.
“The airport and the whole transport system is working in normal mode,” Kopaygorodskiy said.
He added that 15 emergency vehicles and 60 workers had taken part in extinguishing the blaze.
