Russian military strikes Ukrainian drone launch site (VIDEO)
Moscow has successfully hit a Ukrainian long-range drone launch site in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkov Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It also published a video of the strike.
The strike destroyed all of the launch pads, along with more than 30 long-range kamikaze drones and eight military vehicles, it added.
A short video shows a powerful blast rocking an area near the airfield where some installations were located. According to the ministry, a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile system was used in the strike.
The news came amid reports of drone strikes across Russia. Several military airfields located in five Russian regions were targeted in attacks on Sunday, according to the Defense Ministry. Ukrainian media claimed that the strikes were part of a major operation called Spiderweb, which had been prepared for more than a year and a half.
According to the Russian military, three out of five attacks were successfully repelled and resulted in no damage, while two resulted in aircraft being set on fire – although the fires were promptly extinguished. No one was injured in the attacks.
Earlier in the day, the first drone attack was reported in Irkutsk Region in Siberia, where unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) targeted a military base. The strike resulted in no casualties or major material damage, according to the authorities.
This comes less than a day after two bridges collapsed in Russian regions bordering Ukraine in what the authorities described as deliberate acts of sabotage. One of the collapses derailed a passenger train, killing seven and injuring 71 others. The Investigative Committee said in a statement on Sunday that the bridges were blown up in both cases. Russian Senator Andrey Klishas blamed Kiev for both incidents.
