Explosion At Military Factory In Sergiyev Posad: Version Mismatches
- 10.08.2023, 14:58
Eyewitnesses refute Kremlin’s propagandists.
The Russian authorities, commenting on the explosion on the territory of the Zagorsk Optical and Mechanical Plant (ZOMP) in the Russian town of Sergiyev Posad, reported that the detonation occurred in the pyrotechnics warehouse in a room rented from the plant. However, the company’s work, that rented the warehouse, and the story told by its director, as well as the footage from the scene and the words of eyewitnesses cast doubt on this version, writes the Agents Media news publisher.
Explosion site. The Administration of the Sergiyev Posad City Urban District reported that the explosion occurred at the Piro-Ross pyrotechnics warehouse.
At the same time, the director of the company, Sergey Chankaev, told Baza that the explosion did not occur in a pyrotechnics warehouse, but in a neighbouring warehouse where metal pipes were stored and there were no combustible materials.
The Piro-Ross company is undergoing bankruptcy procedure. Its website reads that it was created in 1994 by four defence enterprises (the Krasnozavodsk Chemical Plant Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSUE), the Research Institute of Applied Chemistry FSUE, Signal FSUE, the Soyuz Federal Center for Dual Technologies ). “During the entire period of development, the company gradually grew from a small pyrotechnic design bureau into a large enterprise for the development and production of starting electromechanical equipment, pyrotechnics and clothing, it also engaged in fireworks shows and the transportation of dangerous goods,” the web page reads.
In addition, local residents found an object similar to a shell on the territory of the plant, writes the “Beware. Moscow” writes. The same object was noticed by Yan Matveev, who noted that this was a shell from a 122-mm calibre projectile.
The governor of the Moscow region Andrey Vorobyov said that the epicenter of the explosion was at the pyrotechnics assembly site. “For a long time, the plant has had nothing to do with optics and mechanics. Pyrotechnics are mainly produced here,” he said.
Cause of explosion. Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Utilities Sergei Pakhomov (a repost of his message appeared on the Telegram channel of the Urban District Administration) wrote that, according to preliminary data, the explosion was caused by a violation of technological processes. RIA Novosti announced the same version with reference to sources. TASS talked about the human factor as the cause of the explosion.
According to Baza, sabotage is one of the versions that investigators are considering as the cause of the explosion. The publication draws attention to the fact that the explosion occurred during the unloading of the truck. And the director of Piro-Ross told Moskovsky Komsomolets that during the explosion he was in the building and before the explosion a rumble was heard, the source of which he could not determine.
The 112 Telegram channel, after the first reports of the explosion, wrote that a drone had hit the building. Vorobyov later said that the UAV version was not confirmed.
Matveev wrote that the explosion, caught on video, is similar to the explosion of an ammunition depot: “Usually ready-made pyrotechnics still explode gradually and with fireworks.”
Circumstances. The explosion occurred on Wednesday afternoon. It was so powerful that windows were blown out in the buildings of the city. Eyewitnesses said that "half of the factory" was broken.
The explosion occurred at the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant. It is part of the Shvabe Holding of the Rostec state corporation. It produces optics for military purposes among other goods.