Russia says it has shot down a Ukrainian drone close to one of its air bases inside its own territory while three Russian air force personnel have been killed in the incident.

Russian Defence Ministry in a statement said the drone was flying near Engels air base where long-range strategic bombers are based.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has never publicly claimed responsibility for attacks inside Russia.

Meanwhile, Russian forces continued to rain more than 40 rocket attacks in Ukraine in a single day.

Ukraine's military said today, Russian forces shelled dozens of towns in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzia regions.

Russian-supplied Iskander tactical missile systems and S-400 air defence systems have also been deployed to Belarus.

Source: Radio Pakistan