A series of explosions reportedly caused by a meteor shower, has sparked panic in major cities.
SOLDIERS have been sent to meteor impact sites in Russia, where more than 400 people have been injured by today's strike.
There are conflicting reports from within the Russian Government, but they confirm a blast was felt in the Chelyabinsk region, 1500km east of Moscow.
A spokeswoman for Russia's Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press that there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteor.
Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said more than 400 people had sought medical treatment after the blasts, and at least three had been admitted to hospital in serious conditions. Many of the injuries were from glass broken by the explosions.
Screen shot of YouTube footage of the meteor that hit Russia. Picture: Supplied
The local office of the national emergencies ministry released a statement saying a meteor disintegrated above the Urals, "partially burning up in the lower atmosphere".
"Fragments of the meteorite reached Earth, falling in sparsely populated areas in the Chelyabinsk region," it said.
Screen shot of YouTube footage of the meteor that hit Russia. Picture: Supplied
"According to preliminary information, four people have been injured by flying glass."
The statement said "numerous calls of panic" had been received.
The ministry said some fragments fell near the town of Satka, about 200 kilometers from the regional capital city of Chelyabinsk.
A series of explosions in the skies of Russia's Urals region, reportedly caused by a meteor shower.
The office of the governor of the region in the Ural Mountains said in a statement that many calls about injuries and damage to buildings had been received. But there were no immediate confirmed figures or specific reports on damage.
"According to preliminary information, four people have been injured by flying glass," it said.
"At 11:00 am local time (4pm AEDT) we received numerous calls of panic, power cuts and contusions," Interfax cited the local government as saying.
Screen shot of YouTube footage of the meteor that hit Russia. Picture: Supplied
Schools were closed for the day across the region after the impact blew out windows of buildings and temperatures had plunged in central Russia to -18 degrees Celsius.
Most of those injured were treated for minor cuts and bruises from shattered glass, the local police department told the RIA Novosti news agency.
The Chelyabinsk region is Russia's industrial heartland, filled with smoke-chugging factories and other huge facilities that include a nuclear power plant and the massive Mayak atomic waste storage and treatment centre.
A large explosion took place in the sky over Chelyabinsk early on February 15, with officials blaming a meteor shower. Courtesy: Gregory Chentsov.
A spokesman for Rosatom, the Russian nuclear energy state corporation, said that its operations remained unaffected.
"All Rosatom enterprises located in the Urals region - including the Mayak complex - are working as normal,'' an unnamed Rosatom spokesman told Interfax.
The emergencies ministry said radiation levels in the region also did not change and that 20,000 rescue workers had been dispatched to help the injured and locate those required help.
Screen shot of YouTube footage of the meteor that hit Russia. Picture: Supplied
The defence ministry meanwhile said it had sent soldiers "to the sites of impact.''
Footage of the incident broadcast on state television showed at least two bright flashes fill the sky at around 9:00 am (0500 GMT) as the streets filled with morning rush hour traffic.
Amateur footage posted on YouTube showed local men swearing in surprise and fright, and others grinding their cars to a halt.
Screen shot of YouTube footage of the meteor that hit Russia. Picture: Supplied
"At first I thought it was a plane,'' one man told Russian state television.
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