Murmansk on ”dynamite list”

Murmansk is one of 18 cities in Russia where larger ammunitions depots are located in or near densely populated areas, the Russian newspaper Vzglyad reports. Journalists have analyzed open information on the official web site for state purchases and put together a list over cities where such potentially dangerous facilities are located. The list is called the “dynamite list” in Russian media.

It is not completely clear if Murmansk was on first place on the list intentionally, but this could be the case. The Russian Ministry of Defense’s Northern Arsenal probably contains vast amounts of ammunition and weapons for the Northern Fleet and other military units in the area.

In addition to Murmansk, cities like Moscow, Vladivostok and Perm are on the list over places that have military arsenals dangerously close to populated areas. The list is not complete, newspaper Vzglyad writes – the full list contains 78 locations and is labeled secret.

The Russian Ministry of Defense is now planning to move all ammunition depots and military arsenals away from densely populated areas.

Commenting on the accident, Northern Fleet officials say that the people in the region have nothing to fear, Vesti.ru writes. All the facilities are under special control by the command, the fleet’s press service states.

A series of blasts hit a Navy arms depot in Ulyanovsk, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin’s birth place, on Friday night killing two people and wounding many others. Shockwaves from the explosions smashed windows in nine schools and 20 kindergartens, RIA Novosti reports. Around 40 tons of artillery shells exploded in the accident. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the government to conduct an investigation into the incident and safety checks at all the county’s weapons depots.