An explosion at a factory in the Russian city of Kopeysk in the Ural Mountains has killed at least 12 people, with 10 others reported missing.
The incident was confirmed by Aleksey Teksler, the governor of the Chelyabinsk region, on the messaging platform Telegram.
Kopeysk is located about 2,000 kilometres from Ukraine, near Russia’s border with Kazakhstan.
The explosion triggered a fire, which has since been brought under control.
Governor Teksler ruled out the possibility of a drone attack, though he did not specify the type of factory involved.
German news agency dpa and French news agency AFP, have reported, based on local sources, that the factory is thought to produce ammunition for the Russian military.
