An incident has occurred in a residential building in the northeast of St. Petersburg, the district press service told TASS.
"The incident took place in the Krasnogvardeysky district. We know that there were no casualties," the press service said.
A TASS correspondent at the scene said that windows were shattered and balconies on two floors of the building were damaged. The cause of the incident was not disclosed.
The damaged house is a five-storey building, built in 1979. At the same time, according to the TASS correspondent, the neighboring houses were also affected: the windows were damaged.
Eyewitnesses told TASS that a loud explosion was heard at about 6:50 a.m. local time (3:50 a.m. GMT).
St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov, in turn, said that residents of the affected apartments were evacuated.
"There are no casualties. The glazing of the balconies of two houses was partially damaged. The residents of the affected apartments have been evacuated," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Nearly 100 people are working on the site, including rescuers and medics. An operational headquarters has been set up. The area is cordoned off.
Reuters video taken at the scene showed a damaged facade of a building with blown-out windows, damaged balconies and shattered glass and debris on the ground.
Citizens of the damaged houses told Reuters that they heard some strange sounds followed by a blast and a fire.
"I first heard a whistle, because I had just opened the window, then a pop, a blaze and a full apartment of smoke, the window flew out," local resident Elena told Reuters. She said this happened after 0700 local time (0400 GMT).
Russian media outlets reported that the incident could have been caused by a downed Ukrainian drone, which was heading towards a nearby fuel depot. There was no official confirmation of this from Russia authorities or state media.
