A senior Ukrainian official who was aboard the jet said that they believe the drone was a Russian-made Shahed-type fitted with a jet engine.
“Zelenskyy also offered the use of a Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet to intercept the drone”, according to Ukrainian officials.
The incident comes amid the deepest strikes on Russia since the start of the war, which hit Siberian gas fields on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s Special Forces said they carried out attacks on two gas condensate facilities in the region — in Novy Urengoy and in Purovsky district. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised the strikes for their effect on the Russian economy.
The barren region’s governor, Dmitry Artyukhov, said on Wednesday that Ukraine had embarked on the first such attack on the country’s natural gas hinterland.
Artyukhov did not identify the facility involved.
Russia’s energy company Gazprom did not reply to a request for comment about the attack on the region, some 3,000 km (1,800 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The Ukrainian statement gave no details of any damage inflicted on the sites. It described the two plants as “crucial for the gas condensate industry.”
“Previously, this was considered an absolutely safe area away from the front for the aggressor,” it said.
Zelenskiy said it was “important to respond in an entirely fair manner to the Russian war and in just such a way that the enemy feels it.”