The Russian military yesterday reported that it shot down a Ukrainian drone approaching an airbase deep inside Russia, the second time the facility has been targeted this month, raising questions about the effectiveness of Russia’s air defenses if drones can fly that far into the country.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said the incident took place in the early hours of yesterday, and three servicemen were killed by debris at the Engels airbase that houses the Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers that have been involved in launching strikes on Ukraine.
Engels is in Russia’s Saratov region on the Volga River, more than 600km east of the border with Ukraine.
Photo: AP
No damage was inflicted on Russian aircraft, the ministry said.
Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat, speaking to Ukrainian television, did not directly acknowledge his country’s involvement in the incident, but said: “These are the consequences of Russian aggression.”
He added: “If the Russians thought that the war would not affect them in the deep rear, they were deeply mistaken.”
Ukrainian officials have never confirmed sending drones into Russia. They have maintained ambiguity over previous high-profile attacks, including drone strikes on Russian military bases earlier this month.
On Dec. 5, unprecedented drone strikes on Engels and the Dyagilevo base in the Ryazan region in western Russia killed three servicemen and wounded four.
The strikes on the airbases were followed by a massive retaliatory missile barrage in Ukraine that struck homes and buildings, and killed civilians.
In Ukraine, at least four civilians have been wounded in Russian shelling of five regions in the country’s southeast over the previous 24 hours, said the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
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