A drone attack has set an oil storage tank on fire at an airfield in Kursk, the Russian region’s governor has said, a day after Ukraine appeared to launch audacious drone attacks on two military airfields deep inside Russian territory, writes The Guardian.

“Roman Starovoyt, the governor of the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app there were no casualties from the attack and the fire was “localised”.

Video footage posted on social media showed a large explosion lighting up the night sky followed by a substantial fire at the airfield 280km from the Ukrainian border. At daybreak a large column of black smoke was still visible above the site.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv or Moscow.

Russian officials blamed Monday’s attacks on modified Strizh drones, which were first produced in the 1970s in the Soviet era and intended for use as target practice.

Ukrainian attacks on Russian military targets have become increasingly bold in recent weeks as Kyiv has sought to bring Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine to the home front.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday that Ukrainian drones had attacked two airbases at Ryazan and Saratov in south-central Russia, killing three servicemen and wounding four, and damaging two aircraft.

Ukraine did not directly claim responsibility for any of the attacks. However, a senior Ukrainian official, quoted by the New York Times, said the drones involved in Monday’s attacks were launched from Ukrainian territory and at least one of the strikes was made with the help of special forces close to the base.

The Israeli satellite imaging company ImageSat International shared images it said showed burn marks and objects near a Tu-22M aircraft at Dyagilevo airbase in Ryazan”, - writes the author of article.