What set an FSB compound on fire?

Smoke rises near a building belonging to the border patrol section of Russia's FSB federal security service in the southern city of Rostov.
Smoke rises near a building belonging to the border patrol section of Russia's FSB federal security service in the southern city of Rostov.
Reuters

At least one person was killed and two were injured on Thursday after a fire broke out at a compound used by Russia’s Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, in the southern city of Rostov. Speculation swirled early on about the cause of the blaze – the FSB is located just 43 miles from Ukraine near the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where heavy fighting rages.

Indeed, over the past year, state facilities inside Russia have come under attack from those opposed to the Kremlin’s conscription measures, while Ukrainian nationalists have also been accused of sabotaging Russian infrastructure – like the Nord Stream pipelines.

Russian authorities, however, have said that the Rostov blast was started by an electrical short circuit that caused stored fuel to explode. Local media reported that ammunition stored at the location had caused the fire, which has since been extinguished.

More from GZERO Media

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speak with the media following meetings with a Ukrainian delegation on Ukraine-Russia peace talks, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 11, 2025.
Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS

US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz will exit his post, CBS News first reported, and will be nominated as ambassador to the United Nations. The move brings a premature end to the Floridian’s tumultuous White House stint, one that has been marred ever since he accidentally added a journalist from The Atlantic to a Signal chat discussion about US attack plans in Yemen.

Illegal immigrants from El Salvador arrive at the Comalapa international airport after being deported from the U.S. in Comalapa, on the outskirts of San Salvador.
REUTERS/Ulises Rodriguez

A Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas just dropped a legal bomb on the president’s immigration playbook. US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. on Thursday ruled that Donald Trump overstepped his authority by invoking the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants without due process.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton at campaign rally Fullarton, Adelaide on day 34 of his 2025 Federal Election Campaign in the seat of Sturt, Thursday, May 1, 2025.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Voting is underway in Australia’s May 3 federal election, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seeking a second term for the Labor Party. His main challenger is Peter Dutton, leader of the center-right Liberal Party and the broader Coalition since 2022.

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, speaks during a policy agreement ceremony with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, South Korea, on May 1, 2025.
Chris Jung via Reuters Connect

South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung had a rough day on Thursday.

- YouTube

What is the importance of the so-called minerals deals, which have now been concluded between Ukraine and the United States? What is the importance of the visit by the Danish King Frederik to Greenland? Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm, Sweden.