Drone attack sparks fire at Volgograd apartment block, one hurt

A drone attack on the Russian city of Volgograd set fire to a block of flats in the early hours of 2 October, injuring one person, regional governor Andrei Bocharov said, according to Interfax and the regional administration's Telegram channel.

The fire broke out in an apartment building on Udmurt Street in Volgograd's Krasnoarmeysky district after what Bocharov described as a large-scale drone attack on industrial infrastructure across the Volgograd region. He did not say which industrial site had been targeted.

One person was injured in the fire and taken to hospital, Bocharov said. The fire "has been localised", he added, and emergency crews were dealing with the aftermath, according to the regional administration's statement carried by Caucasian Knot.

Volgograd is home to a large oil refinery, German broadcaster MDR and Greek outlet ERT reported, though Bocharov did not confirm that it was among the facilities targeted.

Residential buildings in Volgograd have been hit before. On the night of 11 September, a missile attack damaged apartment buildings and left two people hospitalised, Caucasian Knot reported. On 31 July, a woman died and eight people were hospitalised after a drone attack; two of the injured later died in hospital, the outlet said. On 27 June, a woman was killed and 11 others were injured in a missile strike on an industrial facility in the city's Krasnooktyabrsky district, and at least three people were later detained after posting footage of that attack online, Caucasian Knot said.

Authorities in Volgograd and other regions of southern Russia bordering Ukraine ban the filming of drone attacks and their aftermath, according to Caucasian Knot. Lawyers cited by the outlet said the filming bans contradict Russia's constitution, which guarantees freedom to seek, record and share information.