(Reuters) – Explosions were heard at Russia’s Engels airbase, hundreds of kilometers from the front line in Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian media reported early on Monday.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the explosion and Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports.
The RBC-Ukraine news agency reported that two explosions occurred.
Russia’s Baza news agency reported, citing local residents, that air raid sirens were going off and an explosion was heard.
The air base, near the city of Saratov, about 730 kilometers (450 miles) southeast of Moscow, was attacked on December 5 in what Russia said was a Ukrainian drone strike. into two Russian air bases that day.
The dual attacks dealt a blow to Moscow’s credibility and raised questions about why its defenses failed, analysts said, as attention turned to use drones in the war between neighboring countries.
Ukraine has never publicly claimed responsibility for attacks inside Russia, but has said such incidents are “retribution” for the Russian invasion.
(Reporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry)
