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A Ukrainian drone strike on an oil depot in Sochi – the Russian resort that hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games – was captured in a video shared online by two TikTok influencers.
Footage circulating online shows two young women posing metres away from the inferno, allegedly attributable to drone debris hitting a fuel tank.
The pair have since been identified as Dasha Vladimirovna, 21, and Karina Evgenyevna, 19 – who’ve since been detained for by accident exposing Vladimir Putin’s failures to defend Russia.
Flames are seen raging behind the 2, with pillars of smoke rising into the sky, after the overnight attack.
Dasha and Karina don’t appear shocked – within the video, they’re rapping to the track Crimson Dawn by singer Endshpil, a famous Russian rapper.
Before they were identified, police had issued an appeal to members of the piublic, saying: ‘During Web monitoring, a publication was found of two girls filming a video against the backdrop of a hearth in Sochi.
‘The police have initiated an investigation, measures are being taken to discover the ladies, and their actions shall be legally assessed.’
It was later confirmed that Dasha and Karina had been detained, and there have been calls from pro-war outlets for them to issue a public apology over the stunt near Sochi Airport.
Police haven’t shared the true reason for his or her arrest, nevertheless it is probably going that it’s the potential glamourising of a Ukrainian strike on Putin’s favourite Black Sea resort.
The Kremlin has been taking an increasingly hard line against social media stunts seen as highlighting Ukraine’s successes within the war.
Ukraine’s attack is seen as probably the most symbolically and strategically significant ones – deep inside Russian territory because the start of the full-scale invasion.
The oil depot sustained a direct hit, causing the explosion of a 2,000 cubic metre fuel reservoir and sparking a fireplace visible across Sochi.
Greater than 120 firefighters and 35 emergency vehicles were deployed to the scene, and operations on the nearby airport were suspended as a precaution.
Despite the official account from the governor of Krasnodar, Veniamin Kondratyev, describing the incident because of this of falling drone fragments, widespread footage circulating online paints a starkly different picture.
Videos captured by local residents show towering plumes of black smoke, an orange-glowing night sky, and the sound of drones overhead.
In a single video, a panicked resident exclaims: ‘It’s flying, again! Right to the airport!’
Moments later, one other voice shouts, ‘It’s a tragedy! Every little thing’s burning!’
These images have sharply contrasted with the restrained language utilized by Russia’s regional and federal authorities.
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