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NATO was aware of Kiev’s plans to attack Russian airfields, Russian diplomat says

It was noted that work had been done in 2022 to restore and upgrade the Soviet-made drones that Ukraine had used in the attacks

MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. NATO was aware of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s preparations for drone attacks on Russian airfields, head of Russia’s delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control Konstantin Gavrilov said.

"Provocations against Russia’s Dyagilevo and Engels strategic airfields, which involved Tu-141 Strizh jet combat drones, could have created serious nuclear security threats," the diplomat pointed out at a plenary session of the OSCE Forum on Security Cooperation. "NATO was aware of the preparations for the recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian military airfields. We immediately responded to them by conducting a massive strike on Ukraine’s military command system, defense industry facilities and related energy sites. No one should have any doubts that this is what will happen every time if Ukraine continues to carry out terrorist attacks," Gavrilov added.

He noted that work had been done in 2022 to restore and upgrade the Soviet-made drones that Ukraine had used in the attacks. The activities involved experts from the Kiev-based Luch Design Bureau and the United States’ Raytheon Technologies. "The drone was turned into a combat weapon with a range of action of up to 1,000 kilometers, capable of carrying out a high-explosive warhead weighing up to 80 kilograms and using the US Global Positioning System (GPS) for targeting," Gavrilov explained.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that on Monday morning, Kiev attempted strikes with Soviet-made jet drones at the military airfields of Dyagilevo in the Ryazan Region and Engels in the Saratov Region, seeking to disable Russia’s long-range aircraft. The Defense Ministry specified that the Russian Aerospace Forces’ air defense systems had intercepted the Ukrainian drones flying at low altitudes. Kursk Regional Governor Roman Starovoit said on Tuesday that an oil storage site located near a Kursk airfield had caught fire following a drone attack. According to the official, the incident caused no casualties.

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