Ukrainian drones hit Russian military airstrip, damage planes – Authorities

Russian authorities on Wednesday said that the military was able to repel drone attacks in several regions during the night, but some got through, causing damage at a military airfield.

Several heavy army transport aircraft have been damaged in a drone attack on the airfield of the north-western Russian city of Pskov, according to authorities.

The army was fending off an attack with drones, the Pskov Gov. Mikhail Vedernikov said on his Telegram channel early on Wednesday morning.
He posted a short video in which an explosion could be heard, and firelight could be seen over the airfield.

According to preliminary information, no one was injured, Vedernikov wrote.

“As a result of the drone attack, four Il-76 aircraft have been damaged.

“A fire occurred; the fire caught two planes,’’ Russia’s state-run TASS news agency cited a representative of the emergency services as saying.

The airfield near Pskov was also home to a paratrooper division that took part in the first wave of attacks on Ukraine in February 2022.

Meanwhile, according to Russian officials, several other Ukrainian drone attacks were repelled during the night.

This included the Moscow region, Bryansk and Oryol, as well as in the Bay of Sevastopol in Crimea.

Air defences had successfully repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on the bay on the Black Sea overnight, Mikhail Razvozhayev.

The Moscow-appointed Governor of Sevastopol, said on his telegram channel on Wednesday morning, without giving details on the number and type of targets destroyed.

The information could not be independently verified.

Russia also repelled four Ukrainian drones overnight over the south-western border region of Bryansk, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said early on Wednesday morning.

The ministry said that air defences had downed three unmanned aircraft while another drone was shot down over the neighbouring Oryol region.

The information could not be independently verified.

Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion for 18 months with Western help.

Moscow has been using Iranian-made Shahed drones to bombard Ukraine.