Several Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine's drone attack deep inside Russia
At least three Russian military personnel have been killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on a base in Russia's Saratov region, Russian media cited the country's Defense Ministry as saying.
The three soldiers were killed by the falling wreckage of the Ukrainian drone that intended to target the Engels strategic bomber airfield, that has housed bomber planes that are part of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces.
Russian air defense systems shot down the low-flying drone as it approached the airfield in the Saratov region around 500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, the ministry said in a statement.
"On December 26, at about 01:35 Moscow time, a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region," it said.
"As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian servicemen of the technical staff who were at the airfield were fatally wounded."
It added that no aircraft were damaged at the airfield that serves as a base for Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers.
However, Reuters said unverified Russian and Ukrainian social media accounts reported that a number of planes had been destroyed.
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The Saratov region is located deep inside Russia, some 900 km from the Kiev-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, a report in state-run RT said.
Ukrainian and Russian media outlets reported that blasts were heard after midnight at the Engels air base, near Saratov, about 730 km southeast of Moscow, and hundreds of kilometers from the front line in Ukraine.
The Engels air base was previously attacked on December 5 in what Moscow said was a drone attack on the Engels facility and the Dyagilevo airfield in Russia’s Ryazan region.
According to the Defense Ministry, the “Soviet-made” jet drones used in the strikes were destroyed by air defenses, but their debris ended up killing three service personnel and “slightly” damaging two aircraft.
Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukraine of launching drone attacks on Russia.
Moscow has condemned the drone attacks and other "terrorist acts" ordered by Kiev on Russian soil.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.
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