Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered officials to tighten control of the border with Ukraine after a spate of drone attacks that are creating a new challenge for Moscow a year after it invaded its neighbour.
One drone crashed on Tuesday just 100km (60 miles) southeast of the Russian capital Moscow, while two more were brought down in southern Russia, according to the defence ministry.
Authorities also closed the airspace over the northern city of St Petersburg in response to what some reports said was a drone, while several Russian television stations aired a missile attack warning that officials blamed on hacking.
“As for the incident with the crash of a UAV in district of Kolomna… the target was probably a civilian infrastructure facility, which was not damaged,” Moscow regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said in a statement, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles.
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“There are no casualties or damage on the ground. The FSB (security services) and other competent authorities are investigating,” Vorobyov added.
Authorities have not specified what infrastructure may have been targeted, but Russian energy giant Gazprom operates a facility near the village of Gubastovo, where the drone crashed.
Ukrainian officials have not claimed responsibility for any of the attacks, but they have similarly avoided directly acknowledging responsibility for previous strikes and sabotage.
No drone damage
Pictures of the drone showed it was a Ukrainian-made type. It reportedly has a range of up to 800km (nearly 500 miles) but is not capable of carrying a large load of explosives.
Russian forces early on Tuesday shot down a Ukrainian drone over the southwestern region of Bryansk, Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said in a Telegram post. He said there were no casualties in the incident, which took place not far from the Ukrainian and Belarusian borders.