At least six regions across western and central Russia were targeted by one of the largest overnight drone attacks since Moscows invasion of Ukraine 18 months ago, authorities said Wednesday.Russias Defense Ministry said it had shot down or destroyed drones over theBryansk, Oryol,Kaluga,Ryazan andMoscow regions overnight.
It did not report any casualties.The military alsosaid it had destroyed four high-speed military boats with 50 Ukrainian special operations servicemen in the Black Sea around midnight.Russias Defense Ministry did not comment on a major drone attack near EU borders that damaged military aircraft in northwestern Russias Pskov region.Footage published by Pskov region Governor Mikhail Vedernikov showed a massive fire with the sounds of explosions and sirens in the background.Vedernikov said Pskov airport was the site of the attack, which is alsohome to Russias Il-76 military transport aviation.At least four Il-76s weredamaged or caught fire as a result of the attack, emergency officials told the state-run TASS news agency.The airportcanceled all civilian flights scheduled for Wednesday over additional security measures,said Russias aviation authority Rosaviatsia.Pskov, which was last targeted by drones in May, lies 660 kilometers north of Ukraine and 30 kilometers east of the border with Estonia, a member of both the European Union and NATO.In Bryansk, Governor Alexander BogomazsaidUkrainian drones tried to attack a broadcast tower.Authorities in the city of Bryansksaidfalling drone debris caused a bang at the local Investigative Committee office, according to TASS.Meanwhile,Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin saidone drone had been downed while en route to the Russian capital.
All four of Moscows airports briefly closed their airspace and rerouted 11 flights during the overnight drone attacks,the Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsiasaid.Russias Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharovacondemnedthe drone attacks as a sign of Ukraines blunt hatred, anger and the absence of any prospects for its own development.Moscow and other Russian regions have been targeted by almost daily drone strikes since Kyiv vowed this summer to "return" the conflict to Russia.AFP contributed reporting.