Ukraine has launched a series of drone strikes against targets in Russia more than 800 miles from the border, in some of its deepest attacks into Russia’s industrial heartland since the beginning of the war.
The Ukrainian drones targeted one of Russia’s largest oil refineries and a factory that produces Iranian-designed Shahed drones that have been used on the frontlines of the war.
The attacks were the first in Tatarstan, an industrialised region south-east of Moscow, since the beginning of the war. The region’s head, Rustam Minnikhanov, confirmed that there had been drone strikes “against enterprises in Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk” and claimed there was no serious damage or disruption to industrial output.
Russia claimed to have intercepted a drone meant to strike Tatneft’s Taneco refinery, which has a production capacity of about 360,000 barrels of oil a day. Reuters reported that pictures indicated a drone hit the primary refining unit, CDU-7, at the Taneco refinery.
Ukraine has launched a series of attacks against Russian oil refineries in an attempt to strike at the Russian economy and limit supplies to its military. The scale of the attacks has forced Russia to cut exports of petrol and, according to some media reports, led to the US asking Ukraine not to target Russian oil-refining capacity.
In Yelabuga, two drones appeared to target a facility that had been set up for the assembly of Shahed drones. Russia had recruited local students to help assemble the drones, according to independent Russian media reports.
Several people were injured in the attacks against the drone factory in Yelabuga, Minnikhanov said. It was not immediately clear if they were workers involved with drone production.
Video posted online showed a fixed-wing aircraft diving toward the factory grounds in Yelabuga and setting off a major explosion as it slammed into one of the buildings. Onlookers including police officers could be seen diving to the ground as debris was thrown in the air.
Drones strike Yelabuga, Tatarstan: hitting the Elaz-Nefteproduct refinery and the Shahed drone factory. Yelabuga sits 1,200 km from Ukraine's border. pic.twitter.com/8AS1dtUCCW
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) April 2, 2024
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Drones strike Yelabuga, Tatarstan: hitting the Elaz-Nefteproduct refinery and the Shahed drone factory. Yelabuga sits 1,200 km from Ukraine’s border. pic.twitter.com/8AS1dtUCCW
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) April 2, 2024
Journalists and online researchers have confirmed that the strikes appeared to have hit dormitories that previously housed the students at the factory site.
Media reports from Kyiv said Ukraine’s military intelligence agency was behind the strikes and it had sought to disrupt Russian drone production. A senior Russian lawmaker called the strikes “terrorist”.
Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the defence committee in the Russian Duma, said: “When we take Kyiv then the mayhem with drones will end. In the meantime we will continue to repel these despicable terrorist [attacks].”