The blasts happened almost simultaneously, at an air base near the central city of Ryazan and at the Engels airbase in the western Saratov region, around 6 a.m., Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Near Ryazan, a fuel tanker went up in flames in an airfield, killing three people and injuring six, British broadcaster the BBC reported, citing Russian state media.
Meanwhile, two people are reported to have been hurt in the explosion at the Engels base in the Saratov region, where a drone crashed at an airfield, damaging two strategic Tu-95 bombers, according to the PAP news agency.
The cause of the blasts was not immediately clear, BBC reported.
The two air bases, situated some 650 kilometres apart, are far from the frontlines, hundreds of kilometres from the Ukrainian border, news outlets reported.
The Tu-95 long-range bombers stationed at the Engels air force base are used to fire cruise missiles on civilian targets in Ukraine, the PAP news agency noted.
Saratov Region Governor Roman Busargin said that “information about incidents at military facilities” near the city of Engels was being verified by law enforcement agencies, adding: “there were no emergencies in the residential areas of the city,” as cited by the Russian independent outlet Meduza.
Monday is day 285 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm)
Source: PAP, bbc.com, meduza.io
