(BSS/AFP) - A massive drone attack in southern Russia`s Volgograd region killed one person and caused a fire in an industrial area, the regional governor said Thursday.

The strikes hit a 24-storey residential building, governor Andrey Bocharov said on Telegram, adding "balconies were damaged and windows of nearby houses were shattered".

"A 48-year-old civilian man was killed by shrapnel from the attack," he said.

"Falling debris caused a fire in an industrial area in the Krasnoarmeysky district," he wrote, adding that fire services had extinguished the blaze.

Volgograd, a region roughly 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the Russian-Ukrainian border, is an industrial hub home to gas and petroleum refining plants.

Ukraine has recently stepped up drone and missile strikes on Russian territory, targeting industrial areas in a campaign that has increased fuel prices in Russia.

Early last month, Ukraine struck a refinery in the southern Krasnodar region, as well as an oil terminal and an ammunition depot in the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula, according to Russian authorities.

Moscow, whose forces lauched a full-scale offensive on Ukraine in 2022, has also escalated aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and rail systems.