MOSCOW, March 26 (Reuters) – An explosion caused by a Ukrainian drone on Sunday injured three people and damaged three residential buildings in the center of Kireevsk, a Russian city just over 200 km south of Moscow, reports the TASS news agency, citing local authorities.
Ukraine did not immediately respond to requests for comment but has consistently denied any use of drones (UAVs) or attacks on civilian infrastructure in Russian territory in the past.
“A Ukrainian UAV TU-141 Strij was the cause of an explosion in the city of Kireevsk, in the Tula region,” said a source quoted by TASS. “The drone was filled with explosives.”
The injuries sustained by the three victims do not appear to be life-threatening, Russian news agencies reported.
The explosion that occurred in the middle of the afternoon caused a large crater in the center of Kireïevsk, said a representative of the emergency services quoted by TASS.
Footage posted on social media shows a muddy crater near a building with badly damaged roof and walls. They also show broken glass strewn on the floor of the stairwell of a neighboring building.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the authenticity of these images.
(Reuters editorial staff, French version Bertrand Boucey)
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