A drone attacked the airport in Russia's Kursk Oblast, which borders Ukraine, early Tuesday morning. The attack hit an oil deposit, causing a fire but leaving no injuries, the regional governor reported.
In two days, this is the third drone attack against air bases on Russian territory. On Monday, December 5, two drones hit airfields in Ryazan and Saratov Oblasts.
The two previous explosions occurred hundreds of kilometers from Ukraine. But the city of Kursk, the capital of the Russian province of the same name, is located just over a hundred kilometers from the border with the Ukrainian province of Sumy.
Kursk-Vostochny (Kursk-Eastern) Airport, 7 kilometers east of the provincial capital, is a joint base used by both military and civilian aircraft. Since February 24, civil aviation flights have been suspended, as in ten other airports in the south and center of European Russia. That day the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ordered to start hostilities against Ukraine and enter the neighboring country with the army.
The governor of Kursk, Román Starovoit, reported on his Telegram channel that the drone hit an oil storage tank, which caught fire.
The Kremlin, for its part, assured that it is taking measures to protect its facilities from attacks that Moscow blames on Kyiv. "The line of continuation of those terrorist attacks, openly declared by the Ukrainian regime, is a danger factor. Of course, we take it into account and take appropriate measures," said Dmitri Peskov, spokesman for the Russian president.
The target of yesterday's attacks were two Russian strategic aviation bases: the Diaguilevo airfield, located in the Riazan region (200 kilometers from Moscow); and that of Enguels, in the oblast of Saratov (Volga region).
The Russian Defense Ministry blamed the attack on Ukraine, which the department said used "Soviet-made jet drones."
According to the ministry, the drones were intercepted by air defense systems, but the falling debris caused damage to two planes, killing three people and injuring four others.
Local media reported on Monday that the victims occurred at the Diaguilevo (Ryazan) airfield.
Moscow assured that what happened was an attempt by Kyiv "to interrupt the combat work of Russian long-range aviation with a terrorist act." On Monday, hours after the first two attacks, Russian aviation again launched a massive attack against targets in Ukraine.
Last August, Ukraine carried out several attacks against Russian military bases located on the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, such as the Saki airfield.
