The Russian army said it shot down three Ukrainian drones on Sunday afternoon in northwest Russia, several hundred kilometers from Ukraine, including one near the former imperial capital of Saint Petersburg.
In a press release, the Russian Defense Ministry said it destroyed a drone around 6 p.m. (3 p.m. GMT) above the Leningrad region, where Saint Petersburg is located, more than 800 km from Ukraine.
The regional governor, Alexander Drozdenko, clarified on Telegram that the drone had been destroyed near the village of Fornossovo, south of the former imperial capital, without causing damage or casualties.
On Telegram, a spokesperson for the Russian Civil Aviation Agency indicated that air traffic restrictions had been introduced for approximately 1.5 hours at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport as a security measure.
At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations indicated that 75 firefighters were fighting in the afternoon against the fire in a hangar near Saint Petersburg, a disaster which left two injured according to this source.
According to Russian media, the fire took place very close to Pulkovo airport.
Authorities have not yet made a link between the downed drone and this incident.
Furthermore, the Russian army claimed to have shot down two other Ukrainian drones on Sunday afternoon in the Novogorod region, located south of Leningrad and also located several hundred kilometers from Ukraine.
According to the local governor, Andreï Nikitin, these two drones did not cause any damage or injuries.
Since the start of the Russian offensive against kyiv at the end of February 2022, the Ukrainian army has managed to carry out drone attacks further and further into Russian territory.
On Saturday, Russia claimed to have destroyed 47 Ukrainian drones overnight, mainly in the Rostov-on-Don region, bordering Ukraine, an attack which could have targeted, among other things, an aviation factory.