FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Satellite images show a series of fires of unknown origin in the waters of Russia's Black Sea near a Ukrainian island, according to NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management (FIRM).
The fires are located in the Black Sea in places without gas and oil production equipment, the Crimean Air monitoring group said on Telegram.
The group posted photos of its findings, writing: “something serious is happening in the sea, about which we know almost nothing. The Defense Forces of Ukraine do not comment on the presence and causes of fires at sea."
The Crimea Weather monitoring group also noted that permanent fire signs were recorded at the "Boyko vacation" site and noted that compared to photos from October 2, a "new fire sign appeared on November 2" followed by by two more a day later.
The fires are in the waters adjacent to Snake Island, also known as Zmiinyi Island, in the northwestern Black Sea near Romania. This remains a contested territory in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Snake Island is essential for civilian, commercial and military activities, as it is a key part of transportation in and out of the Black Sea, according to the head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency GUR.
Russia retained control of the territory until Ukraine regained it in June 2022 after Moscow withdrew its troops in a "goodwill gesture".
The Ukrainian island was one of the first Russian targets at the beginning of the war. Before 2022, Moscow had seized several gas drilling rigs shortly after it annexed Crimea in 2014.
Last year, Ukraine said it regained control of the platforms, known as Boyko Towers.
In early October, a video surfaced of Ukrainian and Russian troops fighting near the Black Sea outpost west of Crimea.
In the footage, Ukrainian soldiers are seen seizing gas production platforms at night, which remained under Russian control.
A fire was also reported in Feodosia on the Crimean coast early last month, but no details were released on what caused the fire, according to Reuters.
Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Crimean leader, reported no casualties despite several fuel tanks being set on fire.
The Boyko towers also caught fire earlier in late August, after all three drilling rigs east of Zmiinyi Island were attacked.
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