Russian Media Silent On Missile Explosion In Orenburg Region

The purple smoke seen by eyewitnesses could be extremely toxic.

Not a single news item about the incident at the Dombarovsky Strategic Missile Forces base in Yasny (Orenburg Region) has appeared in Russia's major media outlets in two days. Nothing was published by the local media either - except for one first note that eyewitnesses saw a strange purple smoke, writes The Insider.

On November 28, an accident occurred at a test range near Yasnoye, where the newest Avangard complexes are deployed - after the launch, the missile flipped over and headed toward the ground before exploding. A video of the missile's flight, its fall and explosion was published. As The Insider reported with reference to satellite images, the area of fire on the ground amounted to 40 hectares.

It is still not clear exactly what kind of rocket fell and subsequently exploded. Experts interviewed by The Insider are leaning toward it being a Sarmat missile rather than a UR-100 with an Avangard unit, but there is still no definitive information.

The purple smoke could be extremely toxic, Georgy Trishkin, a missile launch analyst, explained to The Insider. According to him, there could have been a release of diazote tetraoxide, which is used in liquid-fueled rockets. Commonly called amyl in Russia, it is used as an oxidizer with hydrazine. It is a self-flammable vapor that is stored at room temperature and burns on contact with each other.

Diazote tetraoxide is a toxic and extremely dangerous chemical. When it comes in contact with air, it partially breaks down into the brownish-brown gas NO₂. That's why clouds when diazote tetraoxide is released are usually red-brown or purple-brown.

There have been no reports about the explosion in major Russian media. RIA Novosti published only one note under the headline "Peskov says he has not seen reports about the alleged missile explosion in the Orenburg region." TASS did not publish a single news item. "Gazeta.ru" published the same statement by Peskov. "Lenta.ru" published only Peskov's statement.

"Komsomolskaya Pravda - Orenburg" published nothing. In fact, only "Ural56.ru" published two news items from the local media - a note about the incomprehensible smoke, and a comment from the Unified Duty Dispatch Service, which said that "the residents of Yasnoye will not be evacuated because of the incomprehensible smoke."

The Orenburg Oblast government told journalists that there was no information about evacuation of the population. As for other questions, they recommended to contact the Defense Ministry.

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