Story highlights The Russian Ministry of Defense said 10 "assault drones" tried to attack Khmeimim air base

The spat comes as Russian facilities in Syria have come under multiple attacks

(CNN) The Russian government appeared to suggest Tuesday that the US military had a role in a recent attack on two Russian military bases in Syria, an attack that Russia said involved 13 armed drones, a notion immediately rejected by the Pentagon.

Russia claimed that a US Navy P-8 aircraft flew overhead during the attack, drawing a link between the US military and the militant drone attack, however multiple US defense officials told CNN that a P-8 was not operating in the area during the incident and has not flown in the area for some time.

The Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement Monday saying that 10 "assault drones" had attempted to attack Khmeimim Air Base, the Russian military's primary air base in Syria. The statement said three additional drones had tried to attack the Russian naval facility at Tartus.

Russian troops were able to intercept the drones using electronic warfare jamming and Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missiles, according to the statement, which also said that no casualties or damage to Russian equipment resulted from the attack.

#SYRIA: Security system of the Russian #Khmeimim air base and #Russian Naval CSS point in the city of #Tartus successfully warded off a terrorist attack with massive application of #UAVs through the night of 5th -- 6th January, 2018 https://t.co/nHiUrEWonL pic.twitter.com/3EgrFhYeHh — Минобороны России (@mod_russia) January 8, 2018

The Russians said an analysis of the downed drones found they were using a "modern GPS guidance system," adding that the drones used technology that may have been supplied by "countries with high-technological capabilities of satellite navigation and remote dropping control of professionally assembled improvised explosive devices."

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