‘Drone attack’ at airport in western Russia: Regional governor says Putin’s military is repelling assault in city of Pskov near Estonian border

Drones are believed to have been used to attack an airport in western Russia, just 20 miles from NATO member Estonia’s border.

Videos shared on social media appear to show explosions at Pskov airport in western Russia, a short distance from the neighboring Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the south are all NATO members. Early social media reports suggested that Il-76 transport aircraft were damaged in the blasts.

The Russian state news agency TASS later confirmed that four of the IL-76 aircraft were damaged.

Footage filmed from about two kilometers (1.2 mi) away shows explosions lighting up the sky; videos believed to have been filmed later show massive fires.

Russian officials have claimed the attack is carried out using drones; regional governor Mikhail Vedernikov said in a statement that the armed forces “repelled a drone attack.”

He shared the message, along with video footage of a burning fire in Pskov, on his personal channel on the Telegram messaging app.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Pskov Airport, about 800 kilometers north of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, functions as both a military and a commercial airport.

Ukraine has launched a number of offenses against military targets in Russia in recent days, including a bombing of the Shaykovka airfield southwest of Moscow.

The bombing took place during what was possibly the busiest night of Ukrainian attacks on Russia and Russian territory during the war.

Two major international airports in Moscow – Vnukovo and Domodedovo – were closed, leading to significant disruptions to incoming and outgoing aircraft.

Russian air defenses were also in action in the Tula region, south of the capital, which borders the Kaluga region, amid suspected drone strikes.

In addition, according to Russian sources, a record 42 Ukrainian drones were aimed at the annexed Crimea peninsula in the Black Sea.

Nine were shot down and 33 were suppressed using electronic warfare, the Russian defense ministry said.

There was no independent evidence on the consequences of the massive drone strike.

It followed a daring attack by special forces that saw a Ukrainian flag raised in annexed Crimea after attacking Russian positions.

“An entire division was destroyed on Cape Tarkhankut in temporarily occupied Crimea,” Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said.