A drone crashed into a five-storey residential building in St Petersburg on Saturday leading to the evacuation of 100 people, Russia’s Rosgvardiya national guard said.

Alexander Beglov, the city’s governor, said that two buildings were damaged and residents had been evacuated after what he called an “incident” with no casualties.

RIA Novosti, Russian state-owned media, said six people received medical assistance.

“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 news agency.

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. Rescue workers and investigators were also pictured at the scene.

Russian media outlets reported that the incident could have been caused by a downed Ukrainian drone, which they say was heading towards a nearby fuel depot.

Lying about 620 miles from the Ukrainian border, attacks on St Petersburg have been rare. In January, Ukrainian drones struck a major gas export terminal on the outskirts of the city.

The claims could not be immediately verified, and neither Ukraine or Russia’s defence ministry have yet commented on the incident.