Ukraine war: Drone downed over Russia, Moscow says
Moscow claims that a Ukrainian drone was shot down by Russian air defenses.
According to the defense ministry, the drone was seen coming down in Kireyevsk (roughly 400km (249 mi) from the Ukraine border) on Sunday.
Russia’s state media reports that at least three people were injured in an explosion after it was brought down.
Ukraine denies any previous claims of attacking civilian targets in Russia with explosive drones. It has yet to comment on the incident.
Moscow has deployed hundreds of drones against Ukraine.
Russian law enforcement authorities say the drone – said to be a Strizh-type (Tu-141) UAV packed with explosives – was brought down at 15:20 local time (13:20 BST), causing a large crater in the heart of the town.
Although several apartments were damaged in the town, which is located in the Tula region 220 km (137 miles) south of Moscow, there have been no serious injuries.
In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Russian Defence Ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to carry out a strike.
“The grouping of Russian air defense systems deployed in Tula region – S-300 and Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as Pole-21 electronic warfare systems – provide reliable cover from this direction,” the defense ministry said.
“In particular, the Pole-21 electronic warfare complex handled the Ukrainian strike drone, which resulted in its navigation system being disabled.”
In December, Moscow said three Russian air force personnel died after being wounded by falling debris from a drone that was shot down at the Engels airbase in the south of the country.
The Engels air base has been repeatedly used by Russia to carry out missile strikes on various targets in Ukraine since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion last February.
