The industrial city, which had an estimated pre-war population of more than 700,000 people, lies around 35km from the nearest Russian positions.

“Six people were killed and nine were wounded. A fire broke out at the site of the strike,” the governor, Ivan Fedorov, wrote on social media.

Fedorov has said in an earlier post on social media that Russian forces had struck an infrastructure facility in the city, without elaborating.

Zaporizhzhia has come under increasing Russian aerial bombardments in recent weeks and analysts of the Russian invasion have speculated the Kremlin could launch an offensive towards the city this winter.

The Kremlin claimed to have annexed the territory in late 2022 despite not having full military control over the region.