Russian airfield just 160 kilometers from Moscow targeted by drone attack

Ukrainian drones hit a military airfield near the Russian capital, social media channels reported. The images shared are said to show the consequences of the attacks.

Often without directly claiming responsibility for the attacks, Kyiv has increased its drone attacks on military and energy infrastructure on Russian territory, dealing a severe blow to Moscow’s military machine.

In the most recent reported incident, drones attacked the military airfield in Diaghilev near the city of Ryazan, about 160 kilometers southeast of Moscow, on Saturday.

The air base is a training center for Russia’s strategic bomber fleet and houses Tupolev Tu-95MS, Tu-22M3, Tu-134UBL aircraft and an Ilyushin Il-78 tanker aircraft.

Social media users posted images of smoke rising over the city and Ukrainian news portal Ukrainska Pravda reported that an oil refinery in the Ryazan region had also been hit, but did not specify which one.

It is unclear whether the drones caused any major damage. Moscow would be reluctant to admit that a military facility was hit.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that Kiev had attempted a “terrorist attack” using drones, but that it was “thwarted” when several of the devices were destroyed by air defenses “over the Ryazan region.”

The Telegram channel SHOT published a video of a drone buzzing overhead and reported that residents heard explosions near the airfield at around 6 a.m. The channel repeated the Defense Ministry’s statement that all drones had been shot down and there was no damage or casualties.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow also announced that its air defense units had intercepted 21 drones that had taken off over the Russian region of Bryansk, just across the border. Twelve drones were shot down within an hour. The governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said his region had also been targeted by Ukrainian drones.

Newsweek has asked the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries for comment.

Just days earlier, an oil refinery in the Russian city of Tuapse on the Black Sea coast caught fire after the Ukrainian military intelligence service (HUR) carried out a drone strike, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Russian Telegram channels reported that the attack also caused a fire near the Morozovsk air base in the neighboring Rostov region.

Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian infrastructure with drones and missiles. Romania has deployed F-16 fighter jets to the NATO member state’s border following a Russian drone attack on Izmail in southwestern Ukraine on July 24.

Debris from the bombs was found the following day in Plauru on Romanian territory.

Andrii Cherniak, spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, told Reuters that Moscow is increasingly using cheaply manufactured Shahed drones to identify air defense systems and act as a decoy.