Ukraine says it struck Russian weapons factory

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo via United24

KYIV (Reuters) -     Ukraine's SBU security agency was responsible for a drone strike on a defence manufacturing facility in Russia, an SBU official told Reuters on Wednesday.

The official said the strike was on the Murom Instrument-Building Plant, 300 km (186 miles) east of Moscow, which according to a European Union sanctions designation produces components for military ammunition.

The SBU source said the plant produced ammunition ignition devices and components for the Russian navy and military aviation. 

Alexander Avdeev, the governor of Russia's Vladimir region, reported a fire spanning 720 square meters caused by a drone falling on an enterprise in Murom and said there were no casualties.

Avdeev said two buildings, including a storage facility, were damaged in the drone attack. Some 45 emergency service workers used 14 units of equipment to put out the fire, he added.

Earlier this month, a state of emergency was declared in the Vladimir region following an explosion. 

The Russian defence ministry said that the fire last week had been caused by a breach of safety requirements and had resulted in the detonation of ammunition stored in a warehouse.

 (Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Anastasiia Malenko; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Barbara Lewis)