A drone laden with explosives has crashed in a rural area east of Moscow, Russian media outlets reported on Monday. The aircraft was reportedly of Ukrainian design and carried some 17kg of C4 explosives.
The drone was discovered on Sunday in Bogorodsky district, which is 30km from the eastern outskirts of the Russian capital, TASS reported, citing a source in law enforcement.
News outlet SHOT said the drone had been identified as a Ukrainian-made UJ-22 Airborne. First presented to the public in 2021, this fixed-wing aircraft has a range of up to 800km or twice that distance if used for a one-way kamikaze mission. It can carry a payload of up to 20kg.
SHOT sources said the drone had apparently run out of fuel before crashing in Moscow Region. It was carrying 30 pieces of C4 explosive used by military engineers. The total weight of its cargo was estimated at 17kg, according to the report.
News channel MASH claimed that the payload had consisted of M112 block demolition charges produced in Canada. Images purportedly shot at the crash site and circulated on social media showed what appeared to be M112 charges.
Meanwhile, the Russian military fended off a naval drone attack on the port of Sevastopol overnight, Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev reported on Monday. One of the UAVs was destroyed by Russian fire, while another “exploded on its own” outside the city harbor, he said on social media.