Evacuation was ordered as shells began to explode at an artillery depot in Udmurtia, a republic in the Volga area, a local police source told RIA Novosti on Friday.
"At 23:50 Moscow time [19:50 GMT] we were informed that shells are exploding in the Defense ministry's artillery depot near the village of Pugachevo," the source said.
About 2,000 local residents are being evacuated.
The depot belongs to the Defense Ministry's missile and artillery directorate.
Udmurtia borders the republic of Bashkortostan, where fifty houses burned to the ground, and 160 people were left homeless as a result of powerful explosions at a local ammunition depot last week.
MOSCOW, June 3 (RIA Novosti)
