MOSCOW: A Ukrainian drone attack on a fertiliser plant in Russia’s western Smolensk region killed seven people and wounded 10 others, Russian officials said Wednesday.
The plant, just outside the Russian town of Dorogobuzh, lies around 290 kilometres (180 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Unverified images published on social media purported to show the plant in flames early Wednesday, with columns of smoke billowing into the night sky.
“The enemy struck PJSC Dorogobuzh, a civilian plant producing nitrogen fertiliser,” Smolensk region governor Vasily Anokhin said in a post on Telegram.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said later seven people were killed, updating a previous toll, in what would be one of the deadliest attacks on a Russian industrial site of the four-year war.
Ukraine fired “at least 30 drones equipped with explosive devices,” causing “significant damage” it said in a statement.
Rescuers had on Wednesday morning contained the fires, while authorities were considering evacuating residents from the neighbouring village for their safety, governor Anokhin added.
The plant was also attacked in December last year, according to Russian media reports.
Ukraine, which denies targeting civilians, did not immediately comment.
Ukraine has fired thousands of drones over the Russian border since Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022, some of which have landed hundreds of kilometres from the front line.
The strikes often target Russia’s oil and gas industry and other industrial sites and have caused billions of dollars of damage.
Kyiv says the attacks are fair retaliation for Russian strikes on its own civilians that have killed hundreds and crippled Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
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