Ukraine drones hit Engels air base deep inside Russia, three dead, Moscow claims

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

Russia once again accused Ukraine of attacking an air base in the interiors of the country on Monday. Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry, that a Ukrainian drone attacking a base in Saratov region was shot down. The wreckage killed three people, it said.

This was the second such attack on the base this month.

"On December 26, at around 01:35 Moscow time (2235 GMT), a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region," the TASS news agency reported, quoting the defence ministry.

"As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian technical servicemen who were at the airfield were fatally injured."

The base is about 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow and hundreds of kilometres from the front lines in Ukraine. It was earlier hit on December 5 which Russia claimed were drone attacks carried out by Ukraine on two air bases that day.

Russia's reputation suffered a major blow following the attack, raising questions about why its defences failed, analysts said. Drones have become a crucial weapon in the war between Russia and Ukraine, with Moscow using them to hitcrucial power facilities in the country.

Ukraine has never publicly claimed responsibility for attacks in Russia, but has said, however, that such incidents are "karma" for Russia's invasion.

While the Russian defence ministry said that no aviation equipment was damaged, unofficial Russian and Ukrainian social media reports suggest that several planes were destroyed in the attack.

Roman Busargin, the governor of the Saratov region, had earlier said that civil infrastructure facilities were not damaged in the incident.

"There is absolutely no threat to residents ... Civil infrastructure facilities were not damaged," Busargin said.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE