MOSCOW: A Russian airport near the border with Latvia and Estonia was hit by drones in a rare overnight attack, officials said Wednesday, confirming at least one military jet was damaged.
The strike on Pskov airport, about 700 kilometres from the border with Ukraine, marks the latest attack deep inside Russian territory since Ukraine vowed to “return” the conflict to Russia last month.
Mikhail Vedernikov, Pskov governor, said in a social media post that a drone strike had been repelled in Pskov airport. There were no casualties, but authorities were assessing the damage, AFP reported.
The governor, who said he was at the scene of the strike in the small hours of Wednesday, posted footage showing a large fire and smoke on the skyline, as explosions and sirens could be heard in the background.
Drone Strike Video
Later, a video shared by Vedernikov showed a barrage of outgoing fire from what seemed to be Russian air defences.
There was no immediate statement from the defence ministry, which said in the wee hours of the morning, it had downed a wave of drones in many other regions.
State media, citing emergency services, said that 4 Ilyushin Il-76 heavy transport jets were damaged in the strike in Pskov.
The emergency ministry only said that one Il-76 military transport jet had caught fire at the airport.
All flights on Wednesday at the airport were cancelled, the governor said, until the nature of the possible damage to the airport’s runway was clarified.
Russia said Wednesday that army experts were working to find out which routes the drones were taking in order to prevent such strikes in the future.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that, indeed, the terrorist activity of the Ukrainian government continues, with an increasing number of drones flying precisely at civilian targets.
The region of Pskov, which was also hit by drones in late May, is surrounded by NATO countries Latvia and Estonia to its west and Belarus to its south.
