Russia on Saturday said it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on a military airfield in the northwestern Novgorod region, the first time the region has been targeted since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Today, at around 10:00 am Moscow time, the Kyiv regime carried out a terrorist attack using a copter-type drone on a military airfield in the Novgorod region,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The Defense Ministry said the drone was shot down “by small arms,” adding that at least one warplane had been damaged but no injuries were reported.
Video shared on social media showed a smoke column rising from the area of the military airfield.
Local media reported that the airfield targeted in the attack is located in the town of Soltsy, located 78 kilometers southwest of the region’s capital Veliky Novgorod.
The Novgorod region lies between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Unlike Russia’s frontier regions, annexed Crimea and Moscow and its surrounding areas, the Novgorod region has not been targeted since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
AFP contributed to this reporting.
