Ukrainian drones targeted the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, media reported and authorities reported early Wednesday, in the first such attack on the region since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“This morning, air defense forces destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle over Kaspiysk,” Dagestan head Sergei Melikov said on Telegram.
Kaspiysk, a port city named after the Caspian Sea, is located around 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of the border with Ukraine.
Despite Melikov’s pleas against sharing photos and videos of the attack, which he warned “could assist the enemies,” videos published on social media showed the flights and downing of what may have been more than one drone over Kaspiysk.
Baza, a Telegram channel with links to Russia’s security services, claimed that a total of four drones had targeted the city.
It added that a 16-year-old girl was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds after one of the attacks. Regional health authorities later confirmed Baza’s report to state-run news agencies.
One of the drones may have exploded over the garrison of the Russian Navy’s Caspian Flotilla, according to videos published by the independent Telegram news channel Astra.
AFP, citing an unnamed military intelligence source in Kyiv, reported later on Wednesday that Ukrainian kamikaze drones struck two Russian warships in the Caspian Sea off the coast of Dagestan.
"For the first time, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine's kamikaze drones hit enemy ships in the Caspian Sea," the source was quoted as saying.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed two drones over other regions overnight but did not immediately comment on the attacks in Dagestan.
AFP contributed reporting.
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