A building housing government offices in Russia’s tightly controlled Chechen Republic was hit by a drone on Friday, causing a burning rupture that spanned multiple floors, according to Russian state media and social media videos.
Ukraine frequently targets the Russian republic in the Caucasus, but its drones rarely reach urban areas and especially the capital Grozny’s city centre, where the incident struck.
Neither local nor federal Russian authorities confirmed the blast, but Russian state broadcaster RT quoted a law enforcement source as saying the attack had been carried out by a Ukrainian drone. No casualties were reported.
Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsya had closed Grozny airport earlier on Friday over security concerns for a few hours, it said on social media.
Multiple social media videos showed smoke billowing from a ruptured glass tower, with windows blown out across at least five floors on one side.
Independent reporting from Chechnya, described by some rights groups as a “state within a state”, is near impossible due to restrictions imposed by authorities there.
The Muslim-majority region, ruled by Kremlin loyalist Ramzan Kadyrov since 2007, maintains tight security amid fears of a jihadist resurgence after two civil wars against Russia in the 1990s.
Russian media outlets said the building housed the Chechen security council and was about 800 metres (around 2,600 feet) away from Kadyrov’s residence, as well as next to the secret service FSB’s local branch.
Kadyrov is a staunch and vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine, and has sent thousands of Chechen soldiers to fight there.
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