Startling amber flames are seen in alarming new footage of massive explosions that rocked Russia’s Arctic near one of Vladimir Putin’s secret military bases.
There are questions about who is actually responsible for the two explosions near the Severomorsk-1 naval air base and its weapons depots and bunkers.
A car – one of many covered in powdery snow – is seen on camera slowly reversing before a spectacular orange light flashes for a split second and an inferno rages in the distance.
The military hideout on the Kola Peninsula is home to Russian fighter jets, bombers and maritime surveillance aircraft.
One theory for the explosions is that a Putin missile experiment had gone wrong – not for the first time in the region, with devastating consequences.
“There were two explosions,” said a woman quoted by The Barents Observer.
‘I live in Starostinastraat, on the 8th floor.
‘The house was shaking. It was terrible.’
Two huge explosions rock the Murmansk region near the main naval base of the Russian Northern Fleet
A spectacular orange light flashes for a split second and an inferno rages in the distance
Severomorsk in Russia is located almost 1,900 kilometers north of Russia’s border with Ukraine
Reports also indicate that the two explosions shook windows and walls.
The ignition came shortly after Putin ended his marathon TV call-in and press conference in which he blamed the West for world tensions.
An innocent explanation is that it involved clearing out substandard ammunition, as happens periodically at a special detonation site near Severomorsk-3.
Yet local residents report their homes shaking with unusually powerful explosions.
Tormod Kværna, scientific advisor for seismology and test ban monitoring at NORSAR, said his station recorded a signal that could have meant a huge explosion.
Tormod Kværna, Scientific Advisor for Seismology and Test Ban Monitoring at NORSAR
“At about 2:45 p.m., under clear skies, three bright plasmoids, bright white light with a periodicity of 30 seconds, appeared, moving smoothly downward toward the ground, in the area southeast of Severomorsk-3,” an observer said.