Russian authorities said that Ukraine launched drone attacks against two military air bases within the former's territory on Monday morning.
In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry alleged that the apparent Ukrainian strikes targeted the Saratov and Ryazan regions. Officials added that they were able to intercept the attacks using air defenses.
Drone Strikes on Russian Air Bases
The report by Russia's state media noted that the attacks were carried out on Dec. 5 and were an attempt to disable Moscow's long-range aircraft. Russian officials alleged that the strikes made use of Soviet-made jet unmanned aerial vehicles at the Diaghilevo military airfields in the Ryazan region and Engels in the Saratov region.
The ministry added that the Russian Aerospace Forces' air defenses intercepted the drones that they noted were flying at low altitudes. Officials also claimed that three Russian soldiers were killed while four others were injured during the drone attacks.
Russian officials said that the drone strikes resulted in the skin of two of the aircraft parked in the areas being slightly damaged. On the other hand, Ukrainian officials have not confirmed that it was responsible for the alleged drone attacks in either airfield. But recent satellite imagery showed that there was a substantial number of Russian strategic bombers at the Engels airbase, as per CNN.
The allegations come as Russia has continued to bombard Ukraine, forcing residents in Kyiv and other cities to take shelter as sirens blared. In a Telegram post, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said that power and water outages were felt from Sumy to Odesa.
The official added that at least two people were killed in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia amid the Russian bombardment. The Russian defense ministry said that the strikes were launched despite the "attempts of the Kyiv regime to disrupt the combat work of Russian Long-Range Aviation with a terrorist act."
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Retaliatory Strikes Against Kyiv
According to NBC News, Moscow has consistently denied targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure with its strikes in Ukraine. However, as such attacks have become an increasingly common tactic used by the Kremlin, explosions within Russian territory are considered far more unusual.
In a Twitter post, presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said that the "Earth is round," a likely suggestion that Ukraine's forces may have had responsibility for the attacks on the Russian air bases.
Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Anton Geraschenko posted on Twitter saying that Engels airfield is one of the most important bases of Russia's air forces. The official added that two regiments of strategic bombers were stationed at the air base which was part of Moscow's nuclear deterrence tactics.
Putin attempted to assert his country's resilience from an attack on Oct. 8, when a truck bomb destroyed a bridge linking its mainland to the Crimean Peninsula, by driving a car across the partially repaired bridge. The Russian president personally opened the 19-kilometer bridge in 2018 as part of his attempts to solidify Russia's claim on Crimea.
Amid Russia's bombardment, Ukraine's air force claimed that it shot down more than 60 of the 70 missiles launched. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensy once again praised workers who immediately tried to restore power following the destruction of energy infrastructure, the Associated Press reported.
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