Aircraft in the Russian city of Pskov hit by drones
Four transport aircraft were damaged in a drone strike on the city of Pskov in northwestern Russia on Wednesday. This is reported by the Russian state news agency TASS. Two of the planes were reported to have caught fire. It is not known who is responsible for the attack.
“The Ministry of Defense repels a drone attack on Pskov airport,” regional governor Mikhail Vedernikov told Telegram. A video attached to the message shows a huge fire and explosions can be heard.
Pskov is located about 800 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and the surrounding region borders the EU member states of Latvia and Estonia. Vedernikov said in the message that he was at the scene of the attack and “according to preliminary information” there are no casualties.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry has reported that it has destroyed four manned vessels belonging to the Ukrainian army in the Black Sea. It is not known what kind of vessels are involved. It is also unclear whether there have been any deaths. According to Russia, up to 50 people were on board at the time of the attack.
Russia is currently not investigating the Prigozhin crash
Russia has told the Brazilian aviation authority that it currently has no plans to investigate the plane crash that killed Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin last week. That reports news agency Reuters.
Prigozhin and two other senior officers of the Wagner, along with seven others, were killed in the crash. The plane they were in was a Brazilian-built Embraer corporate jet.
Brazil’s aviation authority, in the interest of improving aviation safety, said it would join a Russian-led investigation if invited and conducted according to international rules.
The cause of the crash of the plane is not yet known. According to the American intelligence services, it is likely that the device was detonated by, for example, a bomb in the plane. Another theory is that it was shot out of the sky by a missile.
“We all know that the Kremlin has a long history of killing opponents,” White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news conference. President Joe Biden said after reporting on Prigozhin’s death that he was “not surprised” and that little is happening in Russia that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is not behind.
The Kremlin denies any involvement, calling the suggestion that Putin ordered Prigozhin’s death in revenge for his June mutiny “an absolute lie.”
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