By SUSIE BLANN and DASHA LITVINOVA (Associated Press)
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian officials on Wednesday accused Ukraine of launching what appeared to be the biggest nighttime drone attack on Russian soil since the war began 18 months ago. The Kremlin’s forces also hit Kyiv during the night with what Ukrainian officials called a “massive, combined attack” that killed two people.
Drones struck hit an airport in western Russia’s Pskov region near the border with Estonia and Latvia, damaging four Il-76 transport aircraft that can carry heavy machinery, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.
The airport strike, which was first reported minutes before midnight, started a massive fire, the regional governor and local media reported. Unconfirmed media reports said up to 20 drones may have targeted the airport.
More drones were shot down over the Oryol, Bryansk, Ryazan and Kaluga regions, as well as the region surrounding the Russian capital, according to the Defense Ministry. Three main Moscow region airports — Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo and Domodedovo — temporarily halted incoming and outgoing flights.
Aerial attacks on Russian soil have escalated in recent months as Ukraine pursues a counteroffensive to drive the invading forces out of its territory. Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russia’s military assets behind the front lines in the country’s east and south. The Kremlin has repeatedly accused the Ukrainian military of also launching drones toward Moscow.
Russia, meanwhile, used drones and missiles in its biggest bombardment of Ukraine’s capital in months, Ukrainian authorities said.
Two people were killed and another person was injured by falling debris, Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv military administration, wrote on Telegram.
Russia launched Shahed exploding drones at the city from various directions and then followed with missiles from Tu-95MS strategic aircraft, Popko said. It was unclear how many were launched, but Popko called the attack the biggest on the capital since the spring.
In the aftermath, Kyiv resident Iryna Oblat pointed to debris in the street and shattered windows in surrounding buildings.
“Look where it hit, look what happened to the house,” she told The Associated Press. “Garages are on fire. We don’t know how many cars and garages were destroyed because firefighters and police won’t let us in.”
In Russia, Pskov regional Gov. Mikhail Vedernikov ordered all flights to and from the airport in the region’s namesake capital canceled for the day so the damage could be assessed during daylight.
Footage and images posted on social media showed smoke billowing over the city of Pskov and a large blaze. Vedernikov said there were no casualties, and the fire has been contained.
Pskov was the only region reporting substantial damage. In Kaluga, one drone was brought down and another hit an empty oil reservoir, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished, Gov. Vladislav Shapsha reported. Residential windows were shattered, Shapsha said.
In the Bryansk region, Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said six drones were downed overnight. One of them damaged an administrative building, he said, prompting a brief fire. Two were targeting a television tower, but were brought down. Russian media earlier on Wednesday cited local residents as saying they heard a loud explosion.
Two drones were downed over the Oryol region, Gov. Andrei Klychkov said. Two more were downed over the Ryazan region and one over the Moscow region, officials said.
The Oryol and Kaluga regions border Bryansk, and the Moscow region sits on top of Kaluga. Pskov, however, is about 700 kilometers (434 miles) north of Russia’s border with Ukraine, and was described by Russian media and military bloggers as an unlikely target.
Also early Wednesday, Russian-installed officials in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, reported repelling an attack of drones targeting the harbor of the port city of Sevastopol.
Fuel depots and airfields have been hit in drone attacks on Crimea or Russian-held regions that Moscow officials have blamed on Kyiv.
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who usually refuse to take responsibility for any attacks on Russian soil.
Explosions in Ukraine were also reported in the southern city of Odesa and the Cherkasy region.
Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed 28 cruise missiles and 15 of 16 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones targeting the capital and multiple regions across the country overnight, the Ukrainian air force said in its daily Telegram update on Wednesday.
It said 43 weapons were downed in Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy and the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions in the south of the country. The statement did not say what happened to the other drone.
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Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia.
