- Surveillance video captured this explosion
on Monday in Russia hundreds of miles
from the Ukrainian frontier.
The culprit for the deadly blast at the main base
for Moscow's long-range bombers was a drone
believed to be Ukrainian.
Moscow says three service members died
when it shot the drone down.
Some accounts said planes were damaged, although
Russia said they weren't.
Reuters cannot verify the reports either way,
and Ukraine did not comment.
The incident could be the latest attack to expose
gaps in Russia's air defenses.
The same base was struck just three weeks
earlier by a suspected drone.
Kyiv says the base is home to bombers
that have targeted Ukraine's civilian infrastructure.
Also on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin
met with leaders of former Soviet states,
but did not make any direct references to the war
in televised remarks.
- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
said the situation at the front and the Donbas region,
including in Bakhmut, was difficult and painful
and would require all of the country's
strength and concentration.
As the war enters its 11th month Putin
has said he's open to negotiations over Ukraine,
but has shown no sign of retreating from his demand
that Kyiv recognize Moscow's armed conquest
of a fifth of the country.
For its part, Kyiv says it will fight until Russia withdraws.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians
have died in cities Russia razed to the ground,
and thousands of troops on both sides have been killed.
Since October, Russia has been deliberately
targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure
with drones and missiles.
Moscow says the aim is to degrade
Kyiv's ability to fight.
Ukraine says the attacks have no military purpose
and are intended to harm civilians as winter sets
in, calling it a war crime.