Night-time satellite passes (VIIRS on NOAA-20 and NOAA-21) found 17 heat clusters near Purovsky, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, that burned at 5 MW or more on at least 5 of the 30 nights to 27 September 2026. Of those, 13 sit more than 2 km from any site in the VNF 2023 and 2024 annual flare summaries. The strongest unregistered cluster, at 66.2472, 76.8186, was lit on 25 of the last 30 nights, peaking at 46.45 MW. A later independent pass on 27 September saw heat again at the same spot, at 13.13 MW — that confirms the heat is still there, not what is burning it.
This is not proof of a new gas flare. The same signal can come from an industrial furnace, a refinery or kiln, or from a flare simply too small or too often clouded over to enter the annual registry. Fire radiative power is not a flared volume, and unlit or vented gas leaves no heat trace at all. No operator or owner can be read from a heat cluster.
What would change our mind: a registry or asset record showing an existing facility here; high-resolution imagery of a furnace or plant rather than a flare stack; or the heat ceasing across clear nights.
Written by AI, then checked by a separate reviewer before publication. Every claim points at the evidence below.