At least 14 people died in a fire that broke out in a fireworks factory in central Russia, according to what Russian official media reported on Monday, citing emergency services.
Footage published by Russian state television RT showed dense sparks flying from a pile of burning rubble.
TASS news agency quoted the Russian Emergencies Ministry as saying: “The death toll from the fire at a fireworks factory in Yaroslavl Province has risen to 14 dead, in addition to one person being injured.”
The accident occurred in the village of Kobrinsk, about 100 kilometers north of Moscow, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
Russian authorities often attribute these deadly fires to poor compliance with safety standards.
The Yaroslavl Region Prosecutor's Office announced the opening of an investigation into possible violations of industrial safety rules.
A Ukrainian regional official said today (Monday) that a Russian drone powered by a jet engine hit a village near the Polish border, causing damage to a border crossing, according to Agence France-Presse.
The official did not reveal any details related to the nature of the checkpoint, or the extent of the damage resulting from the explosion. In recent weeks, Russia launched several attacks near Ukraine's border with Poland, which prompted condemnations from Warsaw and its European allies. Earlier this month, a Russian drone hit a train heading to Warsaw in the same region, in an attack that the Polish Foreign Minister described as an “escalation.”
Roman Romanyuk, the acting governor of the Volyn region in western Ukraine, said in a post on Telegram: “Unfortunately, an explosion occurred near the border with Poland in the village of Starovoitov... The explosion damaged the crossing building at the entrance to the passenger station.” He said that there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. The village of Starovoitov is located about two kilometers from the Polish border, near the Ukrainian “Yagodin” border crossing.
Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kuciniak-Kamisz touched on the strike in a post on the X platform. “Polish airspace was not violated, and our air defense systems and aircraft were ready to respond,” the minister said.
Russia did not immediately issue any comment. The Kremlin said earlier this month, in response to a question about the strike near the Polish border, that Russian forces would continue to launch strikes “on the entire Ukrainian territory.”
Polish Deputy Defense Minister, Cezary Tomczyk, said on Monday that Polish fighters and helicopters will be able to shoot down foreign aircraft that are detected in the country’s airspace, according to defensive measures usually taken in times of war.
This step comes as part of the latest measures aimed at strengthening the defenses of Poland, a member of NATO and the European Union, as the war in neighboring Ukraine approaches its fifth year, and warnings from Kiev’s allies increase about the increasing danger of Russian drones.
Tomczyk said such a change would allow “the pilot or operations commander to make a decision to shoot down a foreign aircraft based on radar data or other information received by the system.”
He pointed out that these standards “are usually applied in the event of war or martial law,” while the usual standards during peacetime require seeing the plane with the naked eye, and not just relying on radar system readings.
The official said that the change was adopted because Poland “faces the possibility of drones entering its airspace on a daily basis.”
Earlier in September, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Russia was planning, within the framework of the war with Ukraine, to launch missile and drone attacks on Kiev’s allies, including Poland.
Warsaw, one of the members of NATO that spends the most on defense relative to the size of its economy, accuses Moscow of carrying out “multiple means” provocations on its territory, including violating its airspace using drones.
