Russia says military drone attempted to strike gas facility near Moscow

A military drone attempted to strike a gas facility in the Moscow region, according to a senior Russian official, and photos of the wreckage suggested it was Ukrainian-made, indicating a rare attempted strike hundreds of miles behind Russian lines.

The alleged attack was one of several reports of successful or attempted unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strikes in at least four regions of Russia.

The target was a Gazprom gas compression station in the Moscow suburbs, just over 50 miles south-east of the Kremlin. Photographs of the drone posted to social media indicate it was a Ukrainian-made UJ-22.

Ukraine does not publicly claim responsibility for attacks inside Russia.

The UAV apparently clipped trees just before its target and landed 10 metres from the outer fence of the gas compression station, a Gazprom representative confirmed to Russian media.

Ukrjet, the producer of the UJ-22, claims the drone can fly 500 miles (800km) and is armed with an interchangeable payload.

If the strike, along with others on Tuesday, were launched from Ukrainian territory, then it would make them some of the most ambitious since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion last February.

Drone strikes launched in December targeted several airfields used by Russian bombers but it was not immediately clear if they were launched from inside or outside Russian territory.

In at least one case, the drones appeared to have struck their targets. Early Tuesday morning, drones armed with explosives also slammed into a Rosneft oil depot in the Krasnodar region, Russian media reported, sparking a fire that required the Russian emergencies ministry to extinguish. Video published on Telegram also appeared to show UAVs flying over the city shortly before the attack.

Tuapse is about 300 miles from Ukrainian territory and close to the large Russian port of Novorossiysk and the Black Sea city of Sochi.