Satellite Images Show A Series Of Mysterious Fires In Russian Black Sea Waters
According to satellite images from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management (FIRM) system, unexplained fires have been reported in Russian Black Sea waters near Ukrainian islands.
The Crimean Wind Monitoring Organization said on the Telegram app that the fires occur in part of the Black Sea without oil and gas production platforms.
The organization posted photos of its findings a month ago and, on November 3, wrote: “Something dangerous is happening at sea, about which we know almost nothing. The Ukrainian Defense Forces did not comment on the existence of fires at sea and their causes.”
NASA Black Sea Fires
NASA Fire Information for Resource Management (FIRM) map showing Black Sea waters. NASA focuses on several fires in the Russian Black Sea near Ukraine’s Snake Island. Screenshot/NASA
The Crimean wind monitoring team also noted that permanent fire signs were recorded at the Boyko platform site, stressing that “new signs of fire appeared on November 2” compared to images taken on October 2, followed by two more fires a day later.
The fire burned near Snake Island (also known as Zemeni Island) northwest of the Black Sea, close to Romania. It remains a disputed area in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, GUR, said Snake Island is vital for civilian, commercial, and military activities as it is a major part of shipping in and out of the Black Sea.
Russia maintained control of the area until Ukraine regained control of it in June 2022 after Moscow withdrew its troops in a “goodwill gesture.”
The Ukrainian island was one of Russia’s first targets at the start of the war. Before 2022, Moscow seized several gas exploration platforms shortly after annexing Crimea in 2014.
Last year, Ukraine said it had regained control of the Boykota platform. Zelensky is seeking a gas deal with Putin’s NATO allies, a blow to Russia. In early October, a video showed Ukrainian and Russian forces fighting near a site in the Black Sea west of Crimea.
Photos showed Ukrainian soldiers seizing gas production platforms still under Russian control at night. Reuters reported that a fire also broke out in Feodosia on the Crimean coast early last month, but it provided no details on the cause of the fire.
Oleg Kryuchkov, a Russian-appointed presidential adviser in Crimea, said there were no casualties despite several tanks catching fire.
Boikota also caught fire in late August when three rigs east of Zemenyi Island were attacked.
