Submarine officers in Russia’s Northern Fleet stand to attention in Severomorsk, in the Murmansk region, to mark Navy Day, 28 July. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry
Three Ukrainian drones have been spotted near Severomorsk, a city in the Russian Arctic’s Murmansk region, prompting the authorities to close airports in the area, Telegram channel Baza reported on Wednesday morning.
Murmansk Governor Andrey Chibis confirmed that “enemy drones” had reached the Murmansk region on his Telegram channel, later adding that all three drones had been intercepted.
Located some 2,000 kilometres away from the Ukrainian border, Severomorsk, a port town situated on the coast of the Barents Sea, is the main base of the Russian Northern Fleet.
According to Baza, one of the drones spotted near Severomorsk was seen flying from the direction of Norway, while the other two were flying from the southeast. Airports in the regional capital Murmansk and in the town of Apatity, have both been temporarily closed.
Though it did report on the Northern Fleet’s “search for enemy submarines in the Barents Sea” as part of scheduled drills in the area on Wednesday, the Russian Defence Ministry has not yet commented on the drone sightings.
This is not the first time Ukrainian drones have attacked the Murmansk region. A Ukrainian drone was reportedly shot down near the settlement of Vysoky, which houses Russia’s Olenya air base, in August, after which Chibis said that the regional authorities had taken “all necessary measures to raise security in the region”.
The same airbase was targeted by Ukrainian drones in late July, a Ukrainian military intelligence source told Ukrainska Pravda, adding that a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber had been damaged in the attack.
Pro-Russian Telegram channel Mash claimed in August that one of the drones that reached the Murmansk region in August was an A-22 Foxbat, an aircraft modified by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to serve as a kamikaze drone, and which can fly unmanned for distances of over 2,000 kilometres.
A light aircraft modified for use as a drone might have attacked a military facility in the central Russian republic of Tatarstan in early April, despite it being over 1,300 kilometres away from the Ukrainian border, the Kyiv Independent reported, adding that Ukrainian officials had “been open” about the production of long-distance drones without unveiling specifics.
