Russia's Defense Ministry has claimed that three military personnel were killed early on December 26 by debris from a downed Ukrainian drone, which was shot down and fell over a military base in Russia's southwestern Saratov region.
"On December 26, at about 01:35 Moscow Time, a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military air base in the Saratov region," the Russian Defense Ministry said. "As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian servicemen of the technical staff who were at the air base were fatally wounded."
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Russian media had earlier reported explosions at the air base operated by Russia's Air and Space Forces. It was the second drone attack on the base that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv this month.
The Baza Telegram channel cited local residents as saying that air raid signals and explosions were heard in the city.
Photos of the aftermath that appeared on Russian social media showed what appeared to be a fire at the base, while a short CCTV video clip indicated that a powerful explosion had taken place.
Saratov region Governor Roman Busargin wrote on his Telegram channel that information about the incident was being investigated by law enforcement agencies. Busargin said that civil infrastructure was not affected.
On December 5, Russia claimed that the base located hundreds of kilometers from the battlefield in Ukraine was struck in one of two attacks on Russian air bases blamed that day on Kyiv.
The air base is about 700 kilometers from territory controlled by Kyiv in eastern Ukraine, where Russian and Ukrainian forces are engaged in fierce fighting 10 months into Russia's unprovoked invasion.
The base is home to Russian Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers and other aircraft used to attack Ukraine.
Satellite images captured what appeared to be damage to a Tu-95 bomber after the December 5 attack. The same day, another drone attack was claimed at the Diaghilev Air Base on the outskirts of Ryazan, southeast of Moscow.