27 March 2023 , 12:31
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Three have been left wounded after a Ukrainian drone was shot down by Russian air forces and exploded into buildings, the Kremlin has claimed.
The drone, which was sent crashing into buildings, was reportedly brought down by a Russian electronic warfare system.
The system sent the drone into Kireyevsk, a town just 127 miles from Moscow, resulting in a huge explosion.
A large explosion could be heard almost 20 miles away, which left three people injured, buildings badly damaged and a crater, 50ft wide and 26ft deep, Russia is claiming.
The drone’s target is unclear and Ukraine has not commented on the strike, which was 250 miles inside Russia.
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A law enforcement source claimed: “A Ukrainian Tu-141 Strizh UAV was the cause of an explosion in the town of Kireyevsk, Tula region."
The drone crashed just 127 miles south of Moscow (Social media/e2w)The governor of the region is former Putin's bodyguard Alexei Dyumin, 50, who is tipped off to become the next Russian president.
The region where the explosion happened, Tula, has several military factories that have produced weapons and ammunition.
It was last visited by Putin alongside Dyumin, who once saved the Kremlin leader’s life in an attack by a vicious brown bear.
The drone's original target is still unclear (Social media/e2w)The strike on a region close to Moscow follows a succession of Ukrainian drone attacks on Crimea.
A 16-year-old girl was among those wounded in the Tula region.
A local said on a video of the damage: “The crater is so ****ing huge, this is awful.”
Another said: “The main thing is we are alive.”
It appeared that Russian air defences failed to strike the incoming drone.
A Ukrainian drone shot down by Russian air defence in Kireyevsk, the Tula region, the Kremlin has claimed (Social media/e2w)Instead, the defence ministry said: “a Polye-21 electronic warfare system disabled the Ukrainian drone’s navigation system.
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“Having lost direction, the unmanned aerial vehicle fell down near the city of Kireyevsk in Tula region.”
A total of 16 houses including 10 apartment blocks were damaged in a huge explosion, according to Russian sources.
The Strizh drone, based on a Soviet-era Tu-141 reconnaissance drone, was “loaded with explosives”.