Fire Breaks Out after Accident at Gas Pipeline in Crimea

File photo: Smoke rises following an alleged drone attack in Sevastopol, Crimea in 2023. (Reuters)
File photo: Smoke rises following an alleged drone attack in Sevastopol, Crimea in 2023. (Reuters)
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Fire Breaks Out after Accident at Gas Pipeline in Crimea

File photo: Smoke rises following an alleged drone attack in Sevastopol, Crimea in 2023. (Reuters)
File photo: Smoke rises following an alleged drone attack in Sevastopol, Crimea in 2023. (Reuters)

A fire broke out late Saturday after an accident at a gas pipeline near the village of Vinogradnoye in Moscow-annexed Crimea, spreading to nearby forest and cutting gas to the resort town of Alushta and more than a dozen settlements, Russian officials said.
"There is no threat to the populated area," Russia's emergency ministry said early on Sunday on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia-installed officials of the Crimean Peninsula reported late on Saturday on Telegram that gas supplies were cut to Alushta, a city of around 30,000 people, and 14 nearby settlements.
"After the gas in the pipes completely burns out, restoration work will begin," the Russian-installed administration of Crimea said on Telegram.
Russian agencies reported, citing officials, that there were no injuries. The fire was consuming an area of about 1,500 square meters (16,000 square feet), TASS state news agency reported.
It was not immediately clear what accident caused the fire.



Russia Captures UK National Fighting Alongside Ukraine in the Kursk Region

Civilians wearing military uniforms take part in a military training organized by Ukrainian soldiers of The Third Separate Assault Brigade in Kyiv, on November 23, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP)
Civilians wearing military uniforms take part in a military training organized by Ukrainian soldiers of The Third Separate Assault Brigade in Kyiv, on November 23, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP)
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Russia Captures UK National Fighting Alongside Ukraine in the Kursk Region

Civilians wearing military uniforms take part in a military training organized by Ukrainian soldiers of The Third Separate Assault Brigade in Kyiv, on November 23, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP)
Civilians wearing military uniforms take part in a military training organized by Ukrainian soldiers of The Third Separate Assault Brigade in Kyiv, on November 23, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP)

The Russian military captured a British national fighting alongside Ukrainian troops in Russia's partially occupied Kursk region, state news agency Tass reported Monday, citing unidentified sources in the law enforcement.
The man was identified by Tass and other media as James Scott Rhys Anderson. Tass quoted him as saying that he had served as a signalman in the British army for four years and then joined the International Legion of Ukraine, formed early on in Russia's nearly 3-year-old war against its neighbor.
In Ukraine, Anderson reportedly served as an instructor for Ukrainian troops and was deployed to the Kursk region against his will. Tass published a video of the man saying in English that he doesn’t want to be “here.”
The report couldn’t be independently verified, but if confirmed it could be the first publicly known case of a Western national captured on Russian soil while fighting for Ukraine.
The UK Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.