Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov has said that a military academy in Gudermes, Chechnya was struck in a drone attack. He did not say who he believed to be responsible for the attack.

The academy in Gudermes, colloquially known as the Russian University of Special Forces, was allegedly struck by a drone on Tuesday morning.

Kadyrov claimed the building was ‘empty’ and that there were no casualties as a result of the attack, but acknowledged that the roof of the building had caught fire. He added that the blaze was later extinguished. 

The Russian Telegram channel Baza shared a picture purporting to show the aftermath of the attack and said it was the first instance of a drone attack in Chechnya. 

According to RFE/RL, the academy is one of the largest training centres for soldiers who signed up to fight in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the academy during his trip to Chechnya in August. 

Kadyrov did not say who he believed to be responsible for the attack, and Ukrainian officials have not yet publicly commented on it. There have previously been drone attacks on other military targets in the North Caucasus, such as a strike on a military airfield in Adygea earlier in October.