Fire At Strategic Russian Military Research Unit Kills 7; 25 Hurt

Russian state news agency TASS has reported that seven people died on Wednesday, after a blaze broke out at a defense research institute near Moscow, Meryl Kornfield and Luis Velarde wrote for the Washington Post.

Photo Insert: The fire engulfed several floors of the Central Research Institute of the Aerospace Defense Forces.

Moscow Times also reported at least 25 were injured after a major fire gutted the military research facility in Tver, with investigators still trying to figure why the high-security facility was razed.

The fire engulfed several floors of the Central Research Institute of the Aerospace Defense Forces, video footage verified by The Washington Post showed.

The Post could not independently verify the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage it caused. Tass reported that the fire was caused by a short-circuit failure.

The Defense Ministry said the facility is used for Russian air and space defense research and the development of antiaircraft systems, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Thus, the facility is crucial to Russia’s developing countermeasures against Ukrainian armed drones and even anti-tank missiles that have already destroyed a number of advanced Russian K-52 helicopter gunships.

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