On the evening of 1 October, a fire broke out at 3 St Isaac's Square, in the very centre of St Petersburg. The call to Russia's Emergencies Ministry came in at 20:11 Moscow time. Within a short time the flames engulfed the historic building, spreading over around 2,000 square metres, and part of the roof collapsed.

The building is known as the Miller Palace. Its core dates back to the second half of the 18th century, and it took on its present appearance in 1879 and 1880, to a design by architect Ferdinand Miller. Eclectic style, preserved historic façades facing the square and surrounding streets, and protected status as a cultural heritage site of regional importance. And perhaps the most important detail: at the time of the fire the building was empty. Vacated, undergoing reconstruction, with plans for a major renovation worth over 750 million roubles.

The fire's complexity rating was first raised to level two, and at 21:12 to level three. In the first hours, 125 people and 25 vehicles were on the scene; later the force grew to 165 people and 37 units of equipment. The fear that the fire would spread to surrounding buildings came true in the end: the flames jumped to the roof of the building next door, where roof structures burned across about 250 square metres. Ten people were evacuated as a precaution, including guests at the hotel in the neighbouring building. There is no information about injuries so far.

The fire was contained on 2 October at 00:40, and the open flames were put out at 01:45. St Isaac's Square was almost entirely closed to traffic, surrounding streets were jammed, and some trolleybus routes were diverted. The Admiralteysky District prosecutor's office has taken oversight of determining the cause, Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a preliminary inquiry, and the exact cause is to be established by a fire-safety technical examination.

Now, the timing. The fire broke out just as Vladimir Putin was taking part in the plenary session of the 23rd annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club. Putin was not in St Petersburg. His address and conversation with participants lasted almost four hours, and when the fire was reported at 20:11, the discussion was still going on. One of the sharpest messages was precisely about a possible direct attack on Russia: "If there is a direct attack on Russia, the question of using all types of weapons at our disposal will inevitably and immediately be on the agenda," Putin said, speaking about a possible attack on Kaliningrad or another Russian region.

So far there is not a single piece of information pointing to any link between the fire and the speech. The two events simply coincided. But the image of a historic palace in flames, facing St Isaac's Cathedral, while the president talks about "all types of weapons", will outlive the official report. And the question that gets asked in the Balkans almost on autopilot - can an empty building facing a costly renovation catch fire all by itself? - will have to wait for the forensic findings.