Quote:KYIV, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Moscow said on Monday its forces had shot down a Ukrainian drone close to a long-range bomber base deep inside Russia, while Ukraine said the Russians had unleashed heavy artillery barrages on its cities in the past 24 hours.
The drone was allegedly flying near Russia's Engels air base, where long-range strategic bombers that may have been used to target Ukrainian cities and infrastructure are based.
The Russian defence ministry said in a statement three air force personnel had been killed in the incident but no planes were damaged.
However, Russian and Ukrainian social media accounts said a number of planes had been destroyed. Reuters was not able to independently verify those reports.
As the war entered its 11th month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday he was open to negotiations, and he blamed Ukraine and its Western allies for failing to engage in talks.
But his forces kept up their relentless attacks, with the Ukrainian military saying early on Monday dozens of towns in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzia regions had been shelled.
"In the Kherson direction, the enemy continues artillery shelling of populated areas along the right bank of the Dnipro River," the Ukrainian military said.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/rus...022-12-26/
Funny how the Russians have twice now claimed that the only damage and deaths were caused by debris from destroyed drones.
