Series of drone attacks reported in southern and western Russia

KIEV (AP) — Officials in southern and western Russia on Tuesday reported a series of drone attacks near the border with Ukraine that left no casualties but riled security forces a year after the start of the war. The hacking of Russian television and radio channels and the temporary closure of the airspace above St. Petersburg airport have raised suspicions about the responsibility of the Ukrainian government. Ukrainian authorities have so far not claimed responsibility, but in the past they have also avoided admitting direct responsibility for attacks or acts of sabotage while emphasizing that they have the right to strike any Russian target due to Russian invasion of their territory. A series of drone strikes on Monday evening and Tuesday morning hit Russian regions near the Ukrainian border and deeper into Russian territory, with one drone even crashing just 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Moscow, the authorities reported. Russian authorities. A drone crashed near the village of Gubastovo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Moscow, Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the region around the Russian capital, said in an online statement. The drone did not cause any damage, said Vorobyov, who, although he did not attribute the fact to Ukraine, said he was probably against “the civilian structure”. Photos of the drone show that it is a Ukrainian-made type. It is said to have a range of up to 800 kilometers (nearly 500 miles), but it is not capable of carrying an explosive charge. Early Tuesday, Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Bryansk region, Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said on the Telegram messaging service. He said there were no casualties. In addition, three drones struck the Russian region of Belgorod on Monday evening and one flew through an apartment window in the regional capital, local authorities reported. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the drones caused minor damage to buildings and vehicles, but there were no casualties. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine used drones to attack facilities in the Krasnodar region and neighboring Adygea. He said the drones were shot down using electronic warfare, adding that one of them crashed in a meadow and another was hijacked and did not reach the infrastructure that he was aiming. While Ukrainian drone strikes in the Russian border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod, north of the Ukrainian region of Sumy, are not unusual, strikes against the regions of Krasnodar and Adygea further south are notable. ___ Jon Gambrell contributed to this Dubai story.