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Drone Strikes Target Flight School in Russia’s Voronezh Region – Reports

Video grab

Authorities in western Russia's Voronezh region said Tuesday that air defense systems had downed two drones overnight, with unconfirmed reports saying that a flight training school was damaged in the incident.

Voronezh region Governor Alexander Gusev said air defense and electronic warfare systems had downed one drone over his region, adding that no one was injured. He did not say where the attempted drone attack had taken place.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defense systems shot down two drones over the Voronezh region and two more over the neighboring Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

According to the Telegram news channel Astra, the Chkalov aviation training center, which is located in the Voronezh region town of Borisoglebsk, had its facade and windows damaged when both drones crashed into it and exploded.

Security camera footage published by the news channel Baza, which is believed to have links to Russian law enforcement agencies, appeared to show automatic weapons being fired in the air followed by the sound of an explosion. A timestamp displayed in the video showed 3:52 a.m. 

Astra published a video of traffic police officers firing in the direction of the sound of a drone’s engine, which was also followed by the sound of a loud explosion.

It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the two videos.

Ukraine has hit Russia with regular drone attacks, including in the Voronezh region over 400 kilometers south of Moscow, since last summer.

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