Russia shoots down Ukrainian drone 140 miles into its territory; several blasts reported

Russia’s military on Wednesday claimed that it spotted the Ukrainian drones flying inside its regions close to Ukraine's border. The recent escalation indicated that the Ukraine Russia conflict is spilling over the borders, with far-reaching impacts felt in the breakaway territory of Moldova, Transnistria under Russian control. Moscow’s air defences intercepted targetting of a military airbase in the Voronezh region, and at least loud explosions were heard overnight in the Shilovo district, OSINT aggregator reported, citing the regional governor. The latest $800m (£612.5m) package that was announced by US President Joe Biden during the second phase of Russia's military operation in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region also included heavy artillery, howitzers, and tactical drones. 

Russia shoots down Ukrainian reconnaissance drone

Moscow's armed forces state that they have shot down a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone approximately 140 miles from the border. Blasts resonated in the Russian city of Kursk and the Telegram channel posts showing purported videos of the explosion claimed that at least four Russian military personnel had died in the incident. Regional governor Roman Starovoyt on his Telegram channel said there were "no casualties.” The blasts in the Russian region took place at 2.45 am on Wednesday. As Russia blamed Ukraine’s military for the blast, the governor stated that the details of the incident “are being clarified.”

"According to preliminary data, the air defense system worked," he wrote. "There are no casualties or destruction," he claimed. 

An arms depot consisting of the missiles had caught fire near the village of Staraya Nelidovka in the Belgorod region. Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a Telegram post that several blasts resonated in the Russian region but no casualties were reported. The regions of Belgorod, Voronezh and Kursk all share the border with Ukraine. Russia’s defence ministry later said at a conference that it targetted arms depot in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region with Kalibr missiles. The facility, claimed Russia, was housing weapons supplied to Kyiv by the United States and European countries. A total of 59 Ukrainian military facilities were destroyed by Russia’s Air Force overnight. 

Moldovan breakaway region Transnistria’s interior ministry said that shots were also fired from Ukrainian territory that taregtted the village in the Russian separatist dominated areas which houses ammunition depot. Moldova claimed that Ukraine drones were launched inside its territory in the breakaway region of Transnistria that has been under the control of Russian backed separatist since 1992, and where at least 1,500 Russian troops have been stationed. Ukraine fears that Moldovan territory could be used as a launchpad by Russian forces to attack Ukraine.