KYIV -- Ukraine has denied any involvement with a series of drones that flew into Russian territory -- including one that got to within 100 kilometers of Moscow, prompting the Kremlin to order the military to tighten up its air defenses.
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Mykhaylo Podolyak, an adviser to the chief of Ukraine's presidential office, wrote on Twitter on March 1 that "Ukraine does not carry out attacks on Russian territory" and had nothing to do with drones that fell and exploded on Russian territory.
Kyiv has said it reserves the right to strike at targets inside Russia, which invaded Ukraine last February, but has consistently refused to take responsibility for several strikes that have occurred on Russian soil since the conflict started.
"Ukraine is conducting a defensive war with the goal of restoring control over all of its occupied territories," Podolyak added.
A day earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said its antiaircraft units knocked down two drones in the Krasnodar Krai region and one in the Republic of Adygea. The first two drones fell near an oil reserve belonging to energy giant Rosneft in the city of Tuapse, causing a fire that did not reach the reserve, the ministry said.
In addition, one drone was downed in the Bryansk region and another crashed down near the city of Kolomna, near Moscow.
While none of the drones caused any casualties, President Vladimir Putin on March 1 ordered the country's defense systems to step up their protection of the border and the country's airspace.
Russian officials have previously accused Ukraine of carrying out sabotage attacks with drones on infrastructure such as oil refineries and military installations near the border with Ukraine.
Some analysts said the spate of recent drone flights into Russian territory could be practice runs for a potential future strike by Ukraine deep inside Russia.
Amid the February 28 reports about the drones, authorities in Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, closed the airspace over the city and stopped all flights to and from the city's Pulkovo airport. Media reports said the measure was carried out after an unknown flying object was discovered above St. Petersburg. Air traffic has since resumed.
The Defense Ministry said the closure of the airspace was part of "training by antiaircraft units to improve the coordination of its activities with civil aviation entities."