Ukrainian Drones Strike Deep in Russian Territory, Moscow Says, Hitting Military Assets Overnight in Four-Hour Wave of Attacks

KYIV — Ukraine sent waves of drones deep into western Russia in nighttime attacks that lasted more than four hours and struck military assets, Russian officials and press reports said Wednesday.The drones hit an airport near Russia’s border with Estonia and Latvia, causing a huge blaze and damaging four Il-76 military transport planes, which can carry heavy machinery and troops, the Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.With at least six regions of Russia targeted, the barrage appeared to be the most extensive Ukrainian drone attack on Russian soil since the war began 18 months ago, although no injuries were reported. The Kremlin has repeatedly accused the Ukrainian military of cross-border incursions on the Belgorod region of Russia and of launching drones toward Moscow.There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who usually don’t take responsibility for attacks inside Russia. The Kremlin’s forces, meanwhile, hit Kyiv with drones and missiles during the night in what Ukrainian officials called a “massive, combined attack” that killed two people.Aerial attacks on Russia have escalated recently as Ukraine pursues a counteroffensive to drive out Moscow’s forces. Kyiv increasingly targets Russia’s military assets behind the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine.Ukraine has also claimed to have used naval drones against Russian ships in the Black Sea. Ukrainian press said that Kyiv saboteurs used drones last week to hit bomber aircraft parked at air bases deep inside Russia.The airport in the Pskov region, about 400 miles north of the Ukrainian border and 400 miles west of Moscow, suffered the most damage in the overnight attacks.Smoke from a massive fire billowed over the city of Pskov, the region’s namesake capital, according to social media posts, including video of loud bangs and flashes, along with the crackle of air defense systems and tracers in the night sky.Pskov’s governor, Mikhail Vedernikov, ordered all flights to and from the airport canceled for the day so damage could be assessed. No one was hurt and the fire was put out, he said.Other regions hit were Oryol, 240 miles south of Moscow, as well as Ryazan and Kaluga, which are both 120 miles south of the capital. Also hit was Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, according to the Russia Defense Ministry.Three main Moscow airports — Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, and Domodedovo — temporarily halted incoming and outgoing flights.The Associated Press was unable to confirm whether the drones were launched from Ukraine or inside Russia.Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, said his country has drones with a range of up to 300 miles, though he did not take responsibility for any attacks inside Russia or on Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.“If you look carefully at the news recently, in general, every day there are news about long-range drones that hit various targets both in occupied Crimea and in the territory of Russia,” Mr. Fedorov told AP recently. “So in this regard, let’s say, that more or less a mass production of these drones has appeared.”

Ukrainian Drones Strike Deep in Russian Territory, Moscow Says, Hitting Military Assets Overnight in Four-Hour Wave of Attacks

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