A Russian region governor said a drone attack has set an oil storage tank on fire at an airfield in Kursk, a day after Ukraine appeared to launch deadly drone attacks on two military airfields deep inside Russian territory.
Roman Starovoyt, the governor of the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app there were no casualties and localised video footage posted on social media showed a large explosion and a large fire at the airfield 175 miles 280 km from the Ukrainian border. A large column of black smoke was still visible above the site at daybreak.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow or Kyiv.
Russian officials blamed Monday s attacks on modified Strizh drones, which were first produced in the Soviet era in the 1970 s and intended for use as target practice.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian attacks on Russian military targets have become increasingly bold as Kyiv has tried to bring Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine to the home front.
Russia s defence ministry said on Monday that Ukrainian drones attacked two airbases in Ryazan and Saratov in south-central Russia, killing three servicemen and wounding four and damaging two aircraft.
Ukraine did not claim any responsibility for any of the attacks. A senior Ukrainian official, quoted by the New York Times, said the drones involved in Monday's attacks were launched from Ukrainian territory and at least one of the strikes was made with the help of special forces close to the base.
Israeli satellite imaging company ImageSat International shared images that showed burn marks and objects near a Tu - 22 M aircraft at the Dyagilevo airbase in Ryazan.
Russia's defence ministry said Monday that the attacks were acts of terrorism intended to disable long-range aircraft, and that the low-flying drones used were shot down.
Saratov is located at least 370 miles from the nearest Ukrainian territory. Russian commentators said that if Ukraine could strike that far inside Russia, it may also be capable of hitting Moscow.
The Ukrainian military analyst Serhiy Zgurets said the air force bases hit on Monday were the only facilities in Russia that could fully service bombers used to launch attacks on Ukraine.
He wrote on the website of Ukraine's Espreso TV that it was too early to say what is at issue, but the ability of the armed forces of Ukraine to reach military targets deep in the territory of the Russian Federation has a very symbolic and important meaning.
A Russian official appeared to reject the recent claims that Moscow may be close to a deal on the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA to pull back from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russian withdrawal from Zaporizhzhia's nuclear power plant or transfer of control over it is out of the question.
The IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said last week he hoped to reach an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on protecting the nuclear plant that is occupied by Russia by the end of the year.