The Russian military has prevented a series of attempted Ukrainian drone strikes, with three unmanned aircraft shot down in the border region of Bryansk and another one intercepted over Oryol, some 200 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said early on Wednesday.
Russian air defense units prevented an “attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack by airplane-type UAVs on Russian infrastructure” shortly after midnight, the military said in a brief statement.
Around 2am, another drone was detected and downed over Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, the Defense Ministry added in another statement.
There were no injuries in Bryansk, according to Governor Aleksander Bogomaz, who said on his Telegram channel that all emergency services are already working at the scene.
Earlier, the Russian aviation authority had announced the emergency closure of airspace over the Tula, Ryazan, Kaluga and parts of Moscow Region, following explosions at an airfield in northwestern Russia.
At least 10 drones had attacked Pskov, according to the regional governor. Some were brought down by air defenses, but the others reportedly caused damage to four Il-76 transport aircraft. There were no reports of casualties.
Pskov is about 700 kilometers north of Ukraine, but only 30 kilometers from the Estonian border. Latvia is about 60 kilometers southwest. Both are NATO member states. To reach the city, drones launched from Ukraine would have to fly over eastern Belarus.
Ukraine has previously used “drone swarms” to attack Crimea, but has not sent more than a handful of UAVs in the direction of Moscow, where they caused minor property damage to the city’s financial district. The Kremlin had dismissed the attacks as an “act of desperation,” intended to distract from Kiev’s failure on the battlefield.
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