At least 5 civilians were killed after a massive blast broke out at the Elastik gunpowder plant near Ryazan, about 100 miles (approximately 160 km) southeast of Moscow, on Friday. In the blast, 20 people were injured, including 10 in serious condition.The blast took place just a few hours before US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s meeting in Alaska.More bodies might still be trapped beneath the rubble, as the explosion triggered a large fire at the facility, local reports said, as per the New York Post. “An emergency response headquarters has been set up, and all departments and emergency services are working,” said Pavel Malkov, the regional governor, on Telegram.The cause of the explosion remains unconfirmed, though Russian media has pointed to possible safety breaches at the plant, which was the site of a deadly 2021 blast that killed 17 people, reported the Kyiv Independent. The incident coincided with overnight Ukrainian drone strikes on a Russian oil refinery in Samara Oblast and an attack on an enemy vessel in the port of Olya on the Caspian Sea, reportedly carrying Iranian-supplied weapons, reported the New York Post. Meanwhile, Russia could be nearing a breakthrough in Ukraine, with its forces reportedly encircling the strategic port city of Pokrovsk in Eastern Donetsk, according to the open-source mapping site DeepState. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian military “continues to suffer significant losses in its attempts to secure more favorable political positions for the Russian leadership at the meeting in Alaska.”He added that Kyiv “understands this plan” and is keeping its partners informed about the situation on the ground.
