"Purple Smoke Has Strong Toxic And Mutagenic Effects."
- 29.11.2025, 9:52
New details about the explosion at Russia's newest nuclear base.
As Charter97.org reported, an explosion occurred at a Russian missile base in the town of Yasny near Orenburg, followed by strange-colored smoke rising into the sky. It is still unknown what kind of missile exploded, but OSINTers have made a number of assumptions.
A new video of a Russian missile exploding has surfaced on social media. It can clearly be seen as it soars into the air before releasing a scarlet-purple-colored cloud and falling stone-faced. Next, a mushroom cloud appears. Meanwhile, locals were told that a "pop" had occurred. "Focus" gathered everything that is known.
The local publication "Ural56.ru" with reference to the residents of Yasnoye reported about "cotton" and "incomprehensible smoke". Later, the same publication stated that according to the Unified Duty Dispatch Service of the Russian Federation, the residents of Yasnoye will not be evacuated because of the incomprehensible smoke, because "there is no threat to the population, the maximum permissible concentration is normal."
"The Orenburg regional government also informed us that there is no information on evacuation of the population. As for other questions, they recommended to contact the Defense Ministry," the journalists said.
At the same time, the comments state that EMERCOM vehicles are driving through the streets, urging people to close their windows and not to go outside. And this is not in Yasnoye, but in Orsk, which is 110 kilometers away from the site of the explosion. Orenburg is about 400 kilometers away. And to the border with Kazakhstan - about 100 kilometers. Yasnoye itself reports that the explosion was so strong that it damaged windows in houses near the base.
Official comments on the cause of the explosion have not yet been made.
The NASA FIRMS fire mapping service shows a fire near the range.
The Ukrainian military publication Defense Express notes that the color of the smoke seen in the footage after the explosion is only characteristic of missiles using toxic fuel known as "heptyl" or "amyl."
Heptyl has a strong toxic and mutagenic effect, and in large concentrations is deadly.
Defense Express suggests that Yasnoye was the site of an unsuccessful test of the Sarmat: the missile fell almost immediately after launch and exploded.
The MilitaryRussia portal, for its part, writes that an unsuccessful launch of the R-36M2 Voyevoda missile was probably carried out from the Yasnoye test site. Another option is the launch of a Sarmat missile, which can be used from silo launchers of Voyevoda missiles.
If the Voyevoda was launched in Yasnoye, the purple house could be very toxic, missile launch analyst Georgy Trishkin explained to The Insider.
He said there could have been a release of diazot tetraoxide, which is used in this missile. Commonly called "amyl" in Russia, it is used as an oxidizer with hydrazine. It is a self-flammable vapor that is stored at room temperature and burns when in contact with each other.
Diazotium tetraoxide is a toxic and extremely dangerous chemical. When it comes in contact with air, it partially breaks down into the brownish-brown gas NO₂. That is why clouds when diazote tetraoxide is released are usually red-brown or purple-brown.
According to another version, the explosion could have been related to the launch of a UR-100H missile equipped with an Avangard unit.
The town of Yasny and the missile base - what is known
The town of Yasny is home to a missile base as well as a cosmodrome from which long-range land-based missiles, including those equipped with nuclear warheads, can be launched. In 2023, the Yasny missile unit began rearming for the Avangard hypersonic nuclear missile system.