KYIV: The Russian military reported on Monday that it shot down a Ukrainian drones approached an airbase deep inside Russia, the second time the airbase has been targeted this month, raising questions about its effectiveness. Russiaair defense if the drone can fly that far into the country.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday and that three servicemen were killed by debris at the Engels airbase, which houses Tu-95 nuclear-capable strategic bombers. and Tu-160 participated in attacks on Ukraine. .
Engels is located in Russia’s Saratov region on the Volga River, more than 600 kilometers (more than 370 miles) east of the border with Ukraine.
The ministry said there was no damage to the Russian plane.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat, speaking on Ukrainian television on Monday, did not directly acknowledge his country’s involvement in Monday’s incident, but said: “This is a consequence of the incident. Russian aggression.”
He added: “If the Russians think that the war will not affect them in the rear, they are sorely mistaken.”
Ukrainian officials have never confirmed sending drones into Russia. They have maintained ambiguity over previous well-known attacks, including drone strikes on Russian military bases earlier this month.
On December 5, unprecedented drone attacks on Engels and the Dyagilevo base in the Ryazan region of western Russia killed a total of three servicemen and wounded four others. The attacks on the airbases were followed by a barrage of retaliatory missiles in Ukraine that hit homes and buildings and killed civilians.
In Ukraine, at least four civilians have been injured in Russian shelling in five regions in the southeast of the country in the past 24 hours, according to Ukraine’s deputy chief of staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko. Overall, the intensity of shelling on the night from Sunday to Monday was significantly lower.
For the first time in weeks, Russian forces did not shell the Dnipropetrovsk area, which borders the partially occupied southern regions of Russia. Kherson and ZaporizhiaIts governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, reported on telegraphy.
“This is the third quiet night in 5.5 months since the Russians started shelling” the areas around Nikopol, Reznichenko wrote. Nikopol is located across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under the control of the Russian military.
According to Kherson Ukraine Governor Yaroslav Yanushevich, Ukrainian-controlled areas in the neighboring Kherson region have been shelled 33 times in the past 24 hours. No casualties.
On Sunday, Russian forces attacked the city of Kramatorsk, where the headquarters of Ukrainian forces are located. Three missiles hit an industrial facility and damaged residential buildings, but no casualties were reported, according to a battlefield report from the Ukrainian presidential office.
In the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, fierce battles continue around the city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces have been trying to capture for weeks to consolidate their control in the east. eastern Ukraine.
In the neighboring Luhansk region, which is almost entirely under Moscow’s control, Russian forces are “suffering great losses and medical facilities are overwhelmed with wounded soldiers,” said Luhansk’s Ukrainian governor, Serhiy Haidai. , told Ukrainian television on Monday. The Russian military is redeploying paratroopers from the Kherson region to the area, Haidai said.
On Saturday, a bloody attack on the city of Kherson, which was recaptured by Kiev’s forces last month, left many people dead and wounded. Governor Yaroslav Yanushevich on Monday said local residents were lining up to donate blood to those injured in the deadly attack.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday and that three servicemen were killed by debris at the Engels airbase, which houses Tu-95 nuclear-capable strategic bombers. and Tu-160 participated in attacks on Ukraine. .
Engels is located in Russia’s Saratov region on the Volga River, more than 600 kilometers (more than 370 miles) east of the border with Ukraine.
The ministry said there was no damage to the Russian plane.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat, speaking on Ukrainian television on Monday, did not directly acknowledge his country’s involvement in Monday’s incident, but said: “This is a consequence of the incident. Russian aggression.”
He added: “If the Russians think that the war will not affect them in the rear, they are sorely mistaken.”
Ukrainian officials have never confirmed sending drones into Russia. They have maintained ambiguity over previous well-known attacks, including drone strikes on Russian military bases earlier this month.
On December 5, unprecedented drone attacks on Engels and the Dyagilevo base in the Ryazan region of western Russia killed a total of three servicemen and wounded four others. The attacks on the airbases were followed by a barrage of retaliatory missiles in Ukraine that hit homes and buildings and killed civilians.
In Ukraine, at least four civilians have been injured in Russian shelling in five regions in the southeast of the country in the past 24 hours, according to Ukraine’s deputy chief of staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko. Overall, the intensity of shelling on the night from Sunday to Monday was significantly lower.
For the first time in weeks, Russian forces did not shell the Dnipropetrovsk area, which borders the partially occupied southern regions of Russia. Kherson and ZaporizhiaIts governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, reported on telegraphy.
“This is the third quiet night in 5.5 months since the Russians started shelling” the areas around Nikopol, Reznichenko wrote. Nikopol is located across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under the control of the Russian military.
According to Kherson Ukraine Governor Yaroslav Yanushevich, Ukrainian-controlled areas in the neighboring Kherson region have been shelled 33 times in the past 24 hours. No casualties.
On Sunday, Russian forces attacked the city of Kramatorsk, where the headquarters of Ukrainian forces are located. Three missiles hit an industrial facility and damaged residential buildings, but no casualties were reported, according to a battlefield report from the Ukrainian presidential office.
In the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, fierce battles continue around the city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces have been trying to capture for weeks to consolidate their control in the east. eastern Ukraine.
In the neighboring Luhansk region, which is almost entirely under Moscow’s control, Russian forces are “suffering great losses and medical facilities are overwhelmed with wounded soldiers,” said Luhansk’s Ukrainian governor, Serhiy Haidai. , told Ukrainian television on Monday. The Russian military is redeploying paratroopers from the Kherson region to the area, Haidai said.
On Saturday, a bloody attack on the city of Kherson, which was recaptured by Kiev’s forces last month, left many people dead and wounded. Governor Yaroslav Yanushevich on Monday said local residents were lining up to donate blood to those injured in the deadly attack.
