A Ukraine-operated drone “packed with explosives” has caused an explosion in the center of a Russian town, injuring three people and damaging three residential buildings.
The explosion took place in the town of Kireyevsk in Tula region, about 300 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, on Sunday, Russian news agency TASS reported. None of the three people are believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries, the report said.
According to the news agency, authorities identified the drone as a Ukrainian Tu-141, which has a range of about 1,000 kilometers.
“A Ukrainian Tu-141 Strizh UAV was the cause of an explosion in the town of Kireyevsk, Tula region,” TASS quoted a law enforcement agency source as saying. “The drone was packed with explosives.”
Ukraine has yet to comment on the explosion. It has previously denied Russian assertions that its drones have flown into Russian territory and caused damage to civilian infrastructure.
Russian military reported several similar drone explosions in December. The Russian Defense Ministry said back then the drones were shot down and that their debris damaged some aircraft and killed several servicemen. Three Russian air force personnel died back then when the drone was shot down at the main base for Russia’s strategic bombers near the city of Saratov after flying hundreds of kilometers through Russian airspace.
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