A fertiliser plant in western Russia has come under attack by Ukrainian drones, killing seven people and injuring at least ten.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said 30 drones had struck the plant in the region of Smolensk, around 290km (180 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
Regional governor Vasily Anokhin said on social media “the enemy struck… a civilian plant”, in what he called a “barbaric terrorist attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
The factory – which is located in the city of Dorogobuzh – produces ammonium nitrate and nitric acid which are used to produce fertiliser, but can also be used to make explosives.
Rescuers were working at the scene of the incident and had managed to contain the fire, Anokhin said.
He did not specify whether there was a risk of toxic pollution as a result of the attack on the chemical plant but said authorities were considering evacuating residents of a nearby settlement to “minimise the risks to the population”.
Schools in the city of Dorogobuzh switched to remote learning and kindergarten classes have been cancelled, the governor added.
Kyiv has not commented on the attack.
Earlier this week, a Ukrainian drone strike hit the Kaleykino oil pumping station in the Republic of Tatarstan – more than 1200km (750 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The pumping station feeds into the Druzhba pipeline network which supplies Russian crude oil through Ukraine into Hungary and Slovakia.
According to Reuters, the attack has forced Russia’s oil pipeline operator Transneft to reduce the amount of crude oil it takes into its system by about 250,000 barrels a day.
The war in Ukraine, launched by Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, has now entered its fifth year.
As the war on the battlefield grinds on, it appears increasingly unlikely that either side will manage to turn the military tide.
Instead, Ukraine is intensifying its long-range drone strikes on Russian oil refineries. Last autumn Moscow was forced to ban petrol exports until the end of 2025 after drone attacks disabled facilities across the country.
Peace negotiations appear to have reached a stalemate over the issue of the Ukrainian region of the Donbas, which Moscow demands Kyiv hands over.
Another round of US-brokered trilateral talks will take place at the start of March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday, adding he had instructed his chief negotiator to work towards a prisoner exchange.
