The ministry said nobody was hurt and the fire was quickly extinguished. The Novgorod region lies northwest of Moscow, hundreds of kilometres from Russia’s border with Ukraine.

“As a result of the terrorist attack on the territory of the airfield, a fire broke out in the aircraft parking lot, which was quickly eliminated by firefighters. One aircraft was damaged,” the ministry said in a statement.

In a separate statement cited by Russian news agencies, the defence ministry said a Ukrainian plane-type drone had been shot down over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. The incident caused no casualties or damage, it added.

Drone air strikes deep inside Russia have increased in recent months. One smashed into a building in central Moscow on Friday after Russian air defences shot it down, disrupting air traffic at all civilian airports of the Russian capital.

Overnight, Russia’s air defence forces also shot down a Ukraine-launched missile over the Crimean peninsula, the defence ministry said earlier. Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, has also seen a surge in drone and missile attacks.

Ukraine typically does not comment on who is behind attacks on Russian territory or Crimea, although officials have publicly expressed satisfaction over them.