Officials in Kyiv claimed on April 5 that Ukraine had destroyed at least six Russian aircraft and damaged eight others on an airfield in the Rostov region of Russia during an overnight attack carried out by a barrage of drones, the Associated Press reported.
Kremlin officials, however, denied the claim, saying its forces succeeded in intercepting and destroying all of the drones and only a power substation on the base was damaged.
According to the Associated Press, neither claim could be independently verified.
In a statement to the Associated Press, officials with Ukrainian intelligence said the overnight attack, coordinated by its Security Service and the Ukrainian army, hit an airfield near Morozovsk. The swarm of drones reportedly killed or injured about 20 people.
According to Ukraine, Russian bombers used the Morozovsk airfield from which to launch guided aerial bombs that targeted the front line and cities in Ukraine.
If Kyiv’s account is accurate, the attack would be one of Ukraine’s most successful strikes on Russian soil. In October, Ukraine claimed that it destroyed nine helicopters at Russian airbases in the occupied regions using US-supplied long-range ballistic missiles.
However, the Russian Defense Ministry disputed Ukraine’s claims.
According to the Defense Ministry, Russia “intercepted and destroyed” 44 drones in the Morozovsky district of Rostov. Regional Governor Vasily Golubev reported that a power substation had been damaged and only eight people near the Morozovsk airfield were injured.
Russian military bloggers, who are typically well-informed about such attacks, confirmed that there had been an attempted drone attack on the Morozovsk airfield but said no planes were damaged and no personnel were killed.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, another nine drones were intercepted and destroyed in the Russian border regions of Belgorod, Kursk, Krasnodar, and nearby Saratov, which would bring the total number of Ukrainian attack drones deployed that night to 53.
