Fire erupted at a gunpowder factory in the Russian town of Kotovsk, Tambov region, killing four people, Russian state-controlled news outlet RIA Novosti reported on June 20, citing emergency service.
Twelve more people were injured as a result of the fire and the subsequent explosion, according to Russian emergency workers.
RIA Novosti later cited the regional governor saying that the cause of the fire was the "human factor, not a terrorist attack."
Kotovsk is located some 500 kilometers from Moscow and about 400 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Russian border.
Since the start of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine, there have been multiple reports about fires breaking out across Russia and other acts of sabotage, which some believe to be carried out by the Ukrainian military or local partisan groups.
Anastasiia Lapatina
