Far from the common border, Ukraine has apparently carried out drone attacks on an oil refinery and a drone factory in Russia. It would be the deepest advance into Russian territory since the start of the war.
According to Kiev’s secret service, Ukraine used combat drones to attack a Russian drone factory – around 1,200 kilometers from the border. It would be Ukraine’s deepest advance into Russian territory since the war of aggression began more than two years ago.
The target was a factory in the city of Yelabuga in the Republic of Tatarstan, where Iranian Shahed combat drones are assembled, several Ukrainian media reported, citing sources at the HUR military intelligence service. Tatarstan is considered highly industrialized and is located about 1,000 kilometers southeast of Moscow.
Oil refinery in Russia also hit
The head of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, confirmed on his Telegram channel drone attacks on industrial facilities in the cities of Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk. Production was not interrupted. Russian media reports said three suspected Ukrainian drones had attacked the region.
According to the emergency services, at least twelve people suffered injuries. According to Russian reports, two drones exploded close to a student dormitory in Yelabuga. Videos in Telegram channels show people throwing themselves to the ground because of the explosions. What could be seen was a flying object that more closely resembled an ultralight aircraft.
In the second city attacked, Nizhnekamsk, there are large oil processing plants belonging to the regional oil company Tatneft. The mayor said the attempt to hit a refinery was thwarted by anti-aircraft defenses. In its defense against Russia’s war of aggression, Ukraine has been systematically attacking Russian oil refineries with long-range combat drones for several weeks.
Air strikes on Ukraine again at night
Ukrainian drone developers have been working for months to increase the range of weapons to compensate for Kiev’s disadvantage in weapons and troops on the battlefield. In the past, Ukraine attacked targets in St. Petersburg and the surrounding area, around 1,000 kilometers north of the border.
Russia is using Iranian-made Shahed drones for air strikes on Ukraine. On Tuesday night, the Ukrainian Air Force counted ten attacking drones of this type. Nine of them were shot down, it was said.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.