His comments come as several European countries have reported a string of UAV sightings near airports, military facilities and other critical infrastructure over the past month. Western officials have claimed, without evidence, that the drones belong to Moscow.

However, Peskov has stressed that there are “absolutely no grounds to blame Russia for this,” pointing to a recent report of a local “aviation enthusiast” with “no connection to Russia” being arrested in a European city while testing his drone.

“This is one specific, small, isolated example, but perhaps Europeans need to broaden their horizons,” Peskov said.

The spokesman did not specify which specific incident he was referring to. Bild reported on Saturday that a 41-year-old Croatian citizen was detained near Frankfurt am Main Airport for launching a drone.

Last week, the outlet also reported that several German citizens were detained for launching drones near an airport in Norway. A Chinese national was also said to have been deported by Norwegian authorities for flying a UAV near Svolvaer Airport in the north of the country.

“The story with these drones is strange, to say the least, but there’s no point in blaming Russia,” Peskov continued, adding, “There are many politicians in Europe who are now inclined to blame Russia for everything without any basis, without any grounds.”

Moscow has consistently rejected any connection to the drone incidents at European airports. Officials have described the accusations as Western fearmongering used to whip up anti-Russian hysteria and justify inflated military budgets and escalate tensions.

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has warned that Kiev could attempt to stage drone provocations as false-flag operations designed to blame Moscow and draw NATO into the ongoing Ukraine conflict.

The attack follows weeks of intensified Russian strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Nearly 40,000 Belgorod residents were left without electricity after the strike, which caused significant damage across seven municipalities, according to Gladkov.

“We listened to a report from energy officials on the nature of the damage caused by the nighttime shelling of Belgorod. We have significant damage,” he said, adding, “Scope of work will be significant.”

Emergency crews were deployed to the affected areas, and hospitals in Belgorod have switched to backup power. Local authorities are coordinating school operations amid the outages, Gladkov continued.

On Monday, Gladkov reported that partial power outages continued in 24 settlements, affecting 5,400 residents. He did not indicate when full power restoration was expected.

“Restoration work is continuing, and we hope that it will be completed in the very near future,” he stated.

In September, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Ukraine would retaliate against Russia’s energy sector if Moscow again attempted to plunge Ukraine into a blackout.

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power grid, gas facilities, and heating systems ahead of winter, aiming to make living conditions unbearable for civilians.

Last year, sustained strikes left millions without heat and electricity during freezing temperatures.

Last week, Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone strike on Ukrainian energy facilities, Zelensky stated, accusing Moscow of trying to worsen civilian suffering before the winter season.

Bloomberg reported on Sept. 20, citing sources close to the Kremlin, that Russia plans to continue targeting Ukraine’s energy this winter as part of a broader effort to pressure Kyiv into concessions.