Russia says it repelled drone attack on region hosting brigade Ukraine accuses of deadly strike

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian military said on Wednesday its air defence forces had destroyed seven Ukrainian drones over Russia’s Ivanovo region, the location of one of two missile brigades which Kyiv accuses of a deadly weekend attack on the city of Sumy.

Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency named Russia’s 112th missile brigade, which according to publicly available information is based in the town of Shuya in the Ivanovo region, as having fired on Sumy in the Sunday attack which killed at least 35 people and was widely condemned in the West.

Russia’s Defence Ministry, which says the Sumy attack targeted a meeting of Ukrainian military officers, said in a statement that Wednesday’s attempted Ukrainian strike on Ivanovo had been conducted by aeroplane-style drones in the morning.

It did not mention the missile brigade based in the region, but local media reported it had been the intended target.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

“According to operational data from headquarters, there were no fatalities and two lightly injured people received medical assistance,” the local government of the Ivanovo region said in a statement.

“The emergency notification system worked normally. No evacuation was announced. Emergency services specialists are dealing with the aftermath.”

Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday that it had hit a base in Russia’s Kursk region belonging to the 448th missile brigade, the other brigade which Kyiv accused of involvement in the Sumy attack.

The Russian military said on the same day it had intercepted or destroyed 109 Ukrainian drones over the Kursk region overnight. One elderly woman had been killed in the Ukrainian attack, local authorities said.

(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)