Ukrainian attack on Russian fertiliser plant kills four: governor

A Ukrainian drone attack on a fertiliser plant in Russia's western Smolensk region killed four people and injured 10 others, the region's governor 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. Four employees were killed and 10 were wounded in the barbaric terrorist attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Smolensk region governor Vasily Anokhin said in a post on Telegram.

Rescuers are working at the scene and have contained the fires, while authorities are considering evacuating residents from the neighbouring village for their safety, he 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.