Loud explosion reportedly heard near Russian Embassy in Washington DC

An explosion was reportedly heard around 1am local time near the Russian Embassy in Glover Park in Washington DC, prompting a police response.

The explosion was also reportedly heard in Cathedral Heights and those who heard or saw the explosion took to social media about it.

After the explosion was reported, police and the Secret Service reportedly surveyed the area. However, at the time of writing this, authorities had not yet released any details about why the explosion happened or what may have caused it. Reports suggest that it could have been a blown electrical transformer.

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The area where the explosion took place – Glover Park – had seen seen protesters gather last Thursday to decry the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Protesters carried a variety of anti-war and anti-Russia signs to the protest. One read, “Putin Burn in Hell,” while another read, “Never Again.”

In interviews with media, protesters also criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin, with one protester telling WTOP, “[Vladimir] Putin is a tyrant. And the fact that he is being allowed to march into another sovereign country is absolutely disgusting. And it needs to be stopped.”

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Thursday’s protests were followed by another round of protests on Sunday, which saw thousands of pro-Ukraine protesters march to the White House to demand more concrete action from the Biden administration as Russian forces laid siege to the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv.

Protesters on Sunday not only called for a unified response to Russia from Western countries, but also demanded that the Biden administration enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine as requested by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Some even said that the deteriorating security situation in Europe, courtesy of the war in Ukraine and its associated tensions, could signal the beginning of World War III, and stressed on the importance of resolving the crisis as soon as possible.