Orthodox priests brought an icon to the scene of a huge fuel depot fire in southern Russia sparked by a Ukrainian drone attack in the hope it would help tame its flames, the local diocese said on Wednesday.

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The icon of the Unburnt Bush is considered by Christians in Russia as a talisman against fire.

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An image released on Wednesday showed two Orthodox priests standing in a field on either side of a wooden stand holding the large icon as a thick plume of black and grey smoke rose into the sky from the depot behind them.

“The (priests) spoke with the firefighters and blessed all the fire equipment,” the local Volgodonsk eparchy told Reuters in emailed comments.