Russia-Ukraine war live: drones hit planes at Pskov airbase in Russia as six regions report attacks | Ukraine

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reports that explosions have been heard in Kyiv and that emergency services had been called to the Shevchenkivskyi district of the city.

“In the Darnytskyi district, debris fell on the roof of a commercial premises. In Shevchenkivskyi – also falling debris. All services follow in place,” Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko wrote on Telegram.

“Medics went to calls at two addresses in Shevchenkivskyi district. Details – later.”

Meanwhile US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced a new package of military assistance to aid Ukraine.

The package includes additional mine clearing equipment, missiles for air defense, ammunition for artillery and high bar systems, and over three million rounds of small arms ammunition, Blinken said in a statement.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has reported what it says are Ukrainian drones of targeting six Russian regions in the early hours of Wednesday in what appears to be the biggest drone attack on Russian soil over the course of this phase of the war – in other words, since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Drones hit an airport in the western Pskov region and were shot down over the regions of Moscow, Oryol, Bryansk, Ryazan and Kaluga.

The strike in Pskov started a massive fire and four Il-78 transport aircraft were damaged, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.

Pskov regional Governor Mikhail Vedernikov ordered all flights to and from the Pskov airport canceled Wednesday, citing the need to assess the damage during daylight.

Footage and images posted on social media overnight showed smoke billowing over the city of Pskov, and a large blaze. Vedernikov said there were no casualties, and the fire has been contained.

Russia’s Tass news agency reports, citing Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, that a drone was “destroyed” in the Ruzsky district of the Moscow region.

“Tonight, an attempt was made to mass attack drones in the Central Federal District. One of the UAVs heading for Moscow was destroyed by air defense forces in the Ruzsky district. There were no preliminary casualties and no damage,” Sobyanin wrote in his Telegram channel.

The attack happened at around 2.30 Moscow time (two hours ago), Russia’s defence forces said on Telegram.

Reuters: Russia has informed Brazil’s aircraft investigation authority that it will not probe the crash of the Brazilian-made Embraer jet that killed mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin under international rules “at the moment”, the Brazilian agency told Reuters on Tuesday.

Prigozhin, two top lieutenants of his Wagner Group and four bodyguards were among 10 people who died when the Embraer Legacy 600 crashed north of Moscow last week.

He died two months to the day after staging a brief mutiny against the Russian defense establishment that posed the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s rule since he rose to power in 1999.

Brazil’s Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa), in the interests of improving aviation safety, had said it would join a Russian-led investigation if it were invited and the probe held under international rules.

Russia’s aviation authority was not obligated to say yes to Cenipa, but some former investigators said it should, as the US and other Western governments suspect the Kremlin of being behind the crash of the Embraer Legacy 600, which has a good safety record. The Kremlin denies any involvement.

Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko has said online that there has been a ‘“rocket attack” on Odesa with explosions heard at around 3.30 am local time:

The governor of Russia’s Orlov region, Andriy Klychkov, has said on Telegram that two Ukrainian drones were shot down tonight:

Tonight, while repelling an attack by Ukrainian UAVs, two unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down over the territory of the Orlov region by means of air defence. There is no information about damage or casualties. All operational services are involved to ensure security.

Russia’s military initially reported that one drone had been shot down over the region.

Air raid sirens are active in Kyiv and other regions in Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s emergency services on Telegram.

“In Kiev and the lower regions, the signal “At the alarm” has been announced!”,” the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said on Telegram.

Russia’s military, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said early on Wednesday that one of its aircraft had destroyed four rapid Ukrainian vessels carrying up to 50 paratroops in an operation on the Black Sea.

Writing on Telegram, the military said:

On August 30, at about 00.00 Moscow time, a naval aviation aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet in the Black Sea destroyed four high-speed military boats with landing groups of servicemen of the Ukrainian special operations forces totaling up to 50 people.

Russia’s military said on Telegram early on Wednesday it had downed three Ukrainian drones over southern Bryansk region and one over central Orlov region.

There were reports of explosions in Bryansk, as well as the Tula region.

Bellingcat researcher Aric Toyler said online: “About every local Bryansk channel just now wrote, almost simultaneously, that they heard a loud explosion. Similar reports in Tula with reports of drones being fired at.”

The region of Pskov was previously targeted by drones in late May.

In recent weeks Moscow and other Russian regions have been targeted by a barrage of Ukrainian drone attacks after Kyiv vowed this summer to “return” the conflict to Russia.

A drone attack on the city of Pskov in northwestern Russia has damaged four heavy transport planes, state media reported early on Wednesday, amid reports of explosions in regions south of Moscow.

“The defence ministry is repelling a drone attack in Pskov’s airport,” regional governor Mikhail Vedernikov said on social media, posting a video of a massive fire, with the sounds of explosions and sirens in the background.

Pskov is located about 800km (nearly 500 miles) from Ukraine’s border and the surrounding region borders EU member states Latvia and Estonia.

In Moscow, news agency Tass reported that airspace above Vnukovo airport closed briefly in response to the attacks on Pskov, before reopening to air traffic.

There were also reportedly explosions in Russia’s Bryansk and Tula regions, according to the investigative news outlet Bellingcat.

There was no immediate comment from the defence ministry on the Pskov attack, but four transport planes were damaged, Tass news agency reported, citing emergency services.

Vedernikov said he was at the scene of the attack. “According to preliminary information, there are no victims,” he said, adding that the scale of the damage was being assessed.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. This is Helen Sullivan with the latest.

In breaking news, a drone attack on the city of Pskov in northwestern Russia has damaged four heavy transport planes, state media reported early on Wednesday, amid reports of explosions in regions south of Moscow.

“The defence ministry is repelling a drone attack in Pskov’s airport,” regional governor Mikhail Vedernikov said on social media, posting a video of a massive fire, with the sounds of explosions and sirens in the background.

Pskov is located about 800km (nearly 500 miles) from Ukraine’s border and the surrounding region borders EU member states Latvia and Estonia.

Separately, Russia’s military said early on Wednesday that one of its aircraft had destroyed four Ukrainian rapid vessels carrying up to 50 paratroops in an operation on the Black Sea.

We’ll have more developments shortly.