Dramatic moment Ukrainian kamikaze drone explodes in fireball attack on Russia
Western Russia has been under the constant threat of drones in recent months, as Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine spills over the border.
A terrifying video has revealed the dramatic moment a Ukrainian drone exploded in the Russian sky during an attack mission.
The fixed-wing drone was loaded with explosives when it was shot down by Russia's air defences at around 4am on Tuesday.
Upon being hit, the unmanned aerial vehicle, believed to be Ukrainian-made, exploded in a bright fireball before plunging to the ground.
The drone was travelling through the airspace in the southwestern Russian region of Rostov, which local governor Vasily Golubev said had been targeted by eight other drone attacks today.
The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed said nine drones were destroyed over Rostov, reporting no casualties.
The ministry went on to claim to have intercepted Ukrainian drones also over the Belgorod, Kursk and Voronezh regions in Western Russia.
Kursk governor Alexey Smirnov said the attack on his region sparked a fire at a factory, while Belgorod leader Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed the Ukrainian attack damaged buildings in several villages and injured at least eight people.
The drone that exploded in a loud bang over the Kamensky district was just one of the hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles that have been targeting western Russia over the past year.
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Ukraine doesn't normally claim responsibility for attacks launched outside of its internationally-recognised borders.
But Kyiv is believed to using its drones, which can be built at a relatively cheap price, to disrupt the Russian oil industry, destroy airfields and damage factories linked to the military.
