Russian soldiers may have shot down four military planes that crashed not far from the Ukrainian border.
Following the Saturday crashes of two fighter jets and two military helicopters in the Bryansk region, the commander of Russia’s Wagner private army made the assertion.
Officials from Russia have not yet responded on the reports.
The four planes likely belonged to the same military aviation group.
Speaking on messaging app Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said: ‘Four planes, if you draw a circle in the places of their fall, it turns out that this circle has a diameter (and all of them lie exactly in a circle) of 40km (25 miles).
‘Now go on the internet and see what kind of air defence weapon could be in the centre of this circle, and then build your own versions.’
However Mr Prigozhim, whose forces are fighting in the city of Bakhmut, later clarified that he was not ‘in the know’ about the situation.
He has repeatedly criticised the Russian military for its strategy in Ukraine. He also claims it has failed to supply Wagner with the ammunition it needs in Bakhmut.
Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for Ukraine’s air force, denied that Ukraine was involved in shooting down the aircraft.
He suggested on Ukrainian television that Russia itself could be responsible, but later claimed he made the remark as a joke.
Shelling from both sides of the border has repeatedly hit Bryansk, which borders the Chernihiv and Sumy provinces of Ukraine.
Russian authorities claim unexplained explosions had derailed two freight trains in the region, and an armed group had crossed the border from Ukraine in March and killed two civilians.