A Russian warship that was nearly complete was mysteriously engulfed in flames at the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg. Images and video of the ship engulfed in flames circulated on social media on the evening of December 17th as the fire continued to burn.
The Russian stealth warship suffered approximately $300 million worth of damage after catching fire during construction, causing a major setback to the country’s naval modernization.
Video of the scene showed significant fire damage to the $410 million stealth ship, which was built to carry Russia’s Mach-9 hypersonic missiles.
Massive flames and thick smoke can be seen rising from the ship, which is known as project 20385, or Provornyy (meaning “Agile”) at the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg where it was under construction.
The warship was almost completely destroyed by the fire. According to The Daily Mail, this is “the latest of a spate of mysterious blazes at top secret naval shipbuilding facilities.”
There are contradicting reports as to whether anyone was onboard and injured during the fire. Russia has claimed that no weapons or crew were on board the warship when the fire erupted. Other reports indicate that three crew members were injured, with Military.com reporting that two required hospitalization.
EHA News shared a video of the fire, tweeting: “The second corvette of the #Russia|n Project 20385 Provorny being built at the Severnaya shipyard has caught fire. The ship was supposed to be delivered to the Russian fleet in Kamchatka at the end of 2022.”
📹 | The second corvette of the #Russia|n Project 20385 Provorny being built at the Severnaya shipyard has caught fire.
▪️The ship was supposed to be delivered to the Russian fleet in Kamchatka at the end of 2022.pic.twitter.com/IvCckDedz7
— EHA News (@eha_news) December 17, 2021
Drone footage captured by Ruptly provided an overhead view of the burning warship.
Belarusian journalist Tadeusz Gizcan also shared footage of the damage, tweeting: “As if the military situation in the region wasn’t tense enough. Russian Navy’s corvette Provorny (expected to be commissioned next year) caught fire at a shipyard in St Petersburg. Russian media report that there are many gas cylinders inside, so there is a high risk of explosion.”
As if the military situation in the region wasn't tense enough. Russian Navy's corvette Provorny (expected to be commissioned next year) caught fire at a shipyard in St Petersburg. Russian media report that there are many gas cylinders inside, so there is a high risk of explosion pic.twitter.com/OQ27qBcrVk
— Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) December 17, 2021
