Mystery over massive explosions in the Russian Arctic near one of Vladimir Putin’s secret military bases

Startling amber flames can be seen in alarming new footage of huge explosions that rocked the Russian Arctic near one of Vladimir Putin’s secret military bases.

Questions surround who is actually responsible for the two detonations close to the Severomorsk-1 naval airbase and weapons’ storages and bunkers.

A car – one of many coated in powdery snow – is visible on camera reversing slowly before a spectacular orange light flashes for a split second and inferno rages on in the distance.

The military hideout on the Kola Peninsula is home to Russian fighter jets, bombers and maritime surveillance aircraft.

One theory for the explosions is that a Putin missile experiment had gone wrong – not for the first time in this region, with devastating impact.

‘There were two explosions,’ said a woman quoted by The Barents Observer.

‘I live on Starostina Street, on the 8th floor.

‘The house was shaking. It was terrible.’

Reports also indicate the two explosions shook windows and walls.

The ignition came soon after Putin had finished his marathon TV call-in and press conference session in which he had blamed the West for tension in the world.

An innocent explanation is that it was the disposal of substandard ammunition, as is periodically carried out at a special detonation site near Severomorsk-3.

Yet locals report their houses shaking in unusually powerful detonations.

Tormod Kværna, Scientific Adviser on Seismology and Test Ban Monitoring with NORSAR, said his station recorded a signal which could have meant a huge explosion.

‘At about 14.45 in a clear sky appeared three bright plasmoids, bright white light with a periodicity of 30 seconds, which smoothly descending moved to the ground, in the area south-east of Severomorsk-3,’ said one observer.