Over the past few months, Kyiv has grown in confidence and ambition as it has ramped up drone attacks inside Russia. It’s struck as far as 1,800km (1,118 miles) in the past, when a long-range radar was hit in the city of Orsk.

Russia said it was working to repel a Ukrainian drone attack on Toropets, where there's a major military depot, as explosions lit up the night.

A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a blaze in a Russian town suspected of housing an arsenal for missiles, ammunition and explosives. The air strike on Toropets in the western part of Russia ’s Tver region also forced the partial evacuation of residents, regional authorities said on Wednesday.