What exactly is known
On the afternoon of December 16, it was learned that one or more unidentified flying objects fell from the sky near Volgograd. Local social media users first reported on the event, followed by regional media coverage.
The incident occurred in the Yelansky district in the north of the region. Around 11 p.m., video recordings of some of the debris apparently lying on the site began circulating on the net. The frames showed cylindrical metal parts with Russian inscriptions. The scene of the accident was cordoned off by the emergency services.
The head of the regional administration, Dmitry Litvinov, said that at first he did not know anything about the emergency. Later, a comment appeared on the municipality’s Telegram channel in the name of Litvinov confirming that an unidentified object had fallen in the district.
“The falling parts of an unidentified object did not damage socially important infrastructure and no one was injured by their fall. Employees of the Ministry of Emergencies and police are currently working at the scene,” he said.
The Regional Emergencies Ministry declined to comment on the incident and advised journalists from local publications to contact the Ministry of Defense for information. Municipal emergency services reported that they were not yet able to understand the nature of the falling debris and expressed hope that experts would deal with its source.
Employees of Rosseti-South PJSC are also known to have arrived at the scene of an unidentified object, the company did not specify why power engineers were sent there.
Local residents on social networks also reported that the wreckage fell near the village of Dubovoye. The head of the Dubovsky rural settlement, Aleksey Golev, said that the incident occurred around 9 am. “Something has fallen on the fields and on the territory of private houses. A hut was damaged. It has not yet been determined what kind of wreckage it was. The region has been cordoned off, we are waiting for the military,” he said.
what eyewitnesses say
Local residents reported at least two objects. Another video was circulating on Friday, allegedly shot in the Yelansky area, in which rocket-like objects could be seen flying through the sky. There were at least three.
Eyewitnesses said they first heard explosions in the sky and saw flying objects. When they fell to the ground, the locals hastily went to the scene of the accident: one of the objects fell into a field, the second into a forest belt.
“Here, all the trees have flown. There are some tubes and boards around. Some more pieces,” the man says in the video from where the unknown debris fell.
Also on record, some of the debris fell on the outbuildings, partially destroying them. Referring to local residents, Komsomolskaya Pravda writes that there are now a large number of police officers, employees of the Ministry of Emergencies and the army in Yelan and its environs.
In Volgograd social networks, the opinion is spreading that the falling debris may belong to the Russian cruise missile belonging to the Kh-101 / Kh-102 family, which was put into service in 2012.