A Fire Broke Out At A Major Electrical Substation In The Second Russian City In As Many Days
- 19.08.2026, 17:27
This time in Cheboksary.
A fire broke out Wednesday afternoon at a major electrical substation on Yakovlev Avenue in Cheboksary, the capital of Chuvashia, according to Mayor Stanislav Trofimov. Footage from the scene of the fire appeared on social media. Judging by photos and videos from local residents, a large column of black smoke rose above the substation and was visible from various parts of the city. Local community pages, citing eyewitnesses, report that before the fire at the substation—located near the “MTV-Center” shopping complex—residents of the Novoyuzhny District “heard the sound of an explosion,” and then the power “flicked on and off” throughout the city, according to The Moscow Times.
“At this time, the fire has been extinguished, and there are no casualties. Specialists are working to switch the power supply networks to backup lines,” Trofimov wrote an hour after the first report of the fire. According to local residents, traffic lights went out and power was cut off in some homes. “Serditaya Chuvashia” notes that the substation that caught fire is located near the “VNIIR-Progress” defense industry plant, which was attacked by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in June. This is already the second such incident in a day. The day before, a fire broke out in Moscow, presumably at Thermal Power Plant No. 20 in the Gagarinsky District. As a result, power was cut off in several districts, and there was also a large-scale outage on the Russian Internet.
"112," citing eyewitnesses, reported that an explosion occurred at the power substation on Vavilova Street. This information has not yet been confirmed. In Moscow City Utilities Complex, the blackout was attributed to a “technical switchover of power sources.”
An RBC source confirmed the accident in the Gagarin District and explained that it affected the operation of Moscow Long-Distance Telephone Exchange No. 9 (MMTS-9), which was partially without power. A significant portion of Russia’s internet traffic passes through this hub.