At least nine people were killed and five injured in an explosion at ‘one of the enterprises’ in the city of Kopeysk, Chelyabinsk Region, local governor Alexei Teksler reported on his Telegram channel on the night of Thursday, 23 October.
‘At this point, nine people are confirmed dead. Five people were injured, and our medics are doing everything possible to stabilise their condition. We are clarifying information about those missing,’ his message said.
The head of the region reported the explosion at an unnamed enterprise late in the evening the day before. ‘At this time, the version of the UAV arrival has not been confirmed,’ he said in his first message, without naming the enterprise or confirming or refuting the ‘UAV arrival version.’
According to eyewitnesses, the explosion occurred near the Plastmass factory in Kopeysk, where weapons and ammunition are produced, writes Astra. One of the local residents recorded a video in which he talks about the arrival of three drones. According to Astra, after the explosion, the enterprise announced a threat of a UAV attack. According to the Telegram channel ‘112’, there were 15 people on duty at the time of the explosion.
The distance between Kopeysk and Kharkiv in a straight line is approximately 1,450 kilometres.