Ukraine launches drone attacks on Russia, inflicting damage to aircraft and disrupting air traffic
Agerpres, the Romanian news agency, reported that Ukraine launched a series of drone attacks on Russia overnight, according to Reuters. The attacks were reported in the Russian regions of Pskov, Bryansk, Kaluga, Orlov, and Riazan, as well as in Crimea.
The most significant attack appears to have been in Pskov, about 410 miles north of the Ukrainian border, near the borders with Estonia and Latvia. Russian officials said four Il-76 military transport aircraft were damaged in the attack, but there were no casualties.
Images published by the governor of Pskov on Telegram showed a large fire, with sirens sounding and at least one explosion heard. Other reports on Telegram channels showed air defence systems in action around the city, which is just 20 miles east of the Estonian border.
Another clip that appeared online appeared to show an Il-76 aircraft destroyed by flames at the Pskov airport.
"According to initial assessments, nothing serious happened, but it is difficult to determine this at night. If everything is in order, the airport will resume normal operations on Thursday," Governor Mikhail Vedernikov wrote on Telegram, adding that there were no injuries.
Emergency services, quoted by TASS, said four Il-76s, long the main transport aircraft of the Russian military, were damaged on the military airfield.
Two of the aircraft "burst into flames," they added.
Russian military and defence officials said three Ukrainian drones were shot down over the southern region of Bryansk, one over the central region of Orlov, and one over the Ryazan region, south of Moscow.
The airspace around Moscow's Vnukovo airport was closed for a short time, TASS reported.
