The image does not show fire at the chernyshev factory in Moscow

The image depicts a fire at a Moscow oil refinery in 2018.

A fire broke out at the machine building plant named after VV Chernyshev in Moscow, which produces engines for MIG fighter jets. Three people were injured as a result of the incident. The fire occurred in an administrative building on Cherry Street. As per reports the factory specializes in the manufacture of engines for fighters. To date, the company is part of the Rostec State Corporation and produces engines for MiG-29 and MiG-35 aircraft.”

In this context, a recent image of a fire behind a group of multi-story buildings circulated widely on social media, with users claiming that it shows a fire at a Russian factory. The caption reads “This is the third major russian fire to report on this morning. At the chernyshev factory in moscow, which produces engines for MiG-29 fighter jets”.

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Fact Check- 

A reverse image search reveals that the image depicts an oil refinery fire in Moscow in 2018. According to the Russian news outlet Business Petersberg article dated 17 NOV 2018, that the incident occurred as a result of a “high-temperature oil refining unit” catching fire. 

In further search we came across a reuters report published on 17 Nov, 2018 on this incident. According to the report “a fire broke out in an oil refinery in Moscow on Saturday morning, shutting down a unit that Thomson Reuters data said produced more than half the plant’s gasoline output. Fire crews battled for more than three hours before extinguishing the blaze at the refinery in the capital’s Kapotnya district, the emergency ministry said.

The plant’s owner – Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom – said the refinery was back working as usual apart from a catalytic cracking unit which was offline. The unit has a daily production capacity of 6,900 tonnes of gasoline that accounts more than a half of the gasoline produced by the plant, according Thomson Reuters data. 

According to another report “Moscow oil refinery, owned by Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft, has caught fire, due to the fire at Gazprom Neft’s oil refinery, an entire unit which is responsible for producing more than half of the plant’s gasoline output was shut. Also, post the incident, no casualties were reported at the plant.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral image to be False. Though a fire broke out at the chernyshev factory in Moscow on May 12, 2023, the image depicts a fire at a Moscow oil refinery in 2018.