Photo: Volgodonsky Eparchiate / Telegram
The Russian Orthodox Church has dispatched a group of priests to hold a prayer service in a field adjacent to an oil depot in southern Russia’s Rostov region where a fire has been raging for four days following a Ukrainian drone strike on the facility, the Volgodonsky Eparchiate said on Tuesday.
At least 42 firefighters have so far been injured during the attempt to extinguish the massive fire, which broke out in the early hours of Sunday in the town of Proletarsk, state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday.
A state of emergency was declared in the town on Monday, as the fire spread to an area of over 10,000 square metres by Tuesday morning, according to business daily RBC-Rostov.
Vladislav Goncharov, a firefighter from Rostov, said on Telegram on Monday that those tasked with putting out the fire were lacking equipment. “Knowing our system, no one will help them, and they will have to pay for their own gear and treatment,” Goncharov said on Instagram, announcing a fundraiser that has since collected over 230,000 rubles (€2,300).
Goncharov subsequently said that he feared dismissal after his post was covered in the media, adding that he had received calls “almost from the president’s office”, though he said on Tuesday that he would retain his job.
The Rostov region, which borders the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, is a frequent target for drone attacks, and on Wednesday Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev said that regional air defence systems had intercepted a Ukrainian missile in the western part of the region.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his forces for hitting oil facilities in Russia, saying the attacks would help bring a “just end” to the conflict.
