The strike in Pskov,which was first reported minutes before midnight,hit an airport in the region’s namesake capital and damaged four Il-76 transport aircraft,Russia’s state news agency Tass reported,citing emergency officials.
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“The Ministry of Defence is repelling a drone attack on Pskov airport,” Pskov governor Mikhail Vedernikov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Vedernikov ordered all flights to and from the Pskov airport cancelled on Wednesday,citing the need to assess the damage during daylight.
Footage and images posted on social media overnight showed smoke billowing over the city of Pskov,and a large blaze. Vedernikov said there were no casualties,and the fire was contained.
No damage or casualties were registered in those regions,although some Russian media cited residents of the Bryansk region as saying that they heard a loud explosion.
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials,who usually refuse to take responsibility for any attacks on the Russian soil.
Unconfirmed media reports said between 10 and 20 drones could have attacked the airport.
Tass news agency,quoting emergency services,said four Il-76 transport aircraft,long the workhorse of the Russian military,were damaged at the military airfield.
“As a result of the drone attack,four Il-76 aircraft were damaged. A fire broke out and two planes burst into flames,” Tass reported.
Videos posted by Russian media showed thick black smoke rising over the airport. They cited posts of residents who heard explosions and gunfire.
Reports on Telegram channels said anti-aircraft systems were in action around the city,located close to the borders of Latvia and Estonia.
The attack prompted the temporary closure of airspace around Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on Wednesday,Tass news agency quoted Russian aviation officials as saying.
Also early on Wednesday,Russian-installed officials in the annexed Crimea reported repelling an attack of drones targeting the harbour of the port city of Sevastopol.
The Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol,Mikhail Razvozzhayev,said it wasn’t immediately clear how many of the drones had been destroyed. It wasn’t immediately clear if the attack caused any damage.
A police officer with an anti-drone gun at the entrance of the Porokhovskoye cemetery in St Petersburg.Credit:AP
Drone attacks on Crimea or Russian regions have become increasingly common in recent months,with Moscow being a frequent target,as well as regions that border Ukraine,such as Bryansk.
Fuel depots and air fields have been hit in drone attacks Russian officials blamed on Kyiv.
The surge inUkrainian drone attacks come as the Kremlin faces down the aftermath of the death of warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The mercenary Wagner Group boss wasreportedly buried at a St Petersburg cemetery on Tuesday,following a suspicious plane crash two months after his brief mutiny that challenged the authority of President Vladimir Putin.
His spokespeople said the service took place behind closed doors,and directed “those who wish to bid their farewell” to the 62-year-old to go to the Porokhovskoye cemetery in his hometown.
Flowers are seen on the grave of Wagner Group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin after a funeral in St Petersburg.Credit:AP