Drone strike kills at least 12 in Russia’s Tatarstan

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian city of Nizhnekamsk killed at least 12 people and wounded 39, regional authorities said Monday, in one of the deadliest single strikes inside Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale war in Ukraine.

The BBC, citing Russian officials, reported that at least 13 people were killed, including one child. NPR reported that authorities in Russia’s Tatarstan region put the death toll at 12, with 39 injured. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the attack.

Nizhnekamsk, in the republic of Tatarstan, lies more than 1,100 kilometers, or about 680 miles, from the Ukrainian border, according to the BBC. NPR put the distance at roughly 1,200 kilometers, or 750 miles, east of Ukraine. The city has a population of about 240,000 and is an important oil refining hub, home to two refineries and a petrochemical plant.

The press service of Tatarstan’s head, Rustam Minnikhanov, said Nizhnekamsk came under a “massive” drone attack targeting industrial and civilian facilities Monday morning. Local sources told the BBC the strike lasted several hours overnight and into the morning. Unverified images on social media showed large plumes of smoke and flames rising into the sky in daylight as air raid sirens sounded in the background.

Moscow said industrial facilities and residential areas were targeted. “Civilian individuals who were not involved in any military operations were present,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said, according to the BBC, which said it could not independently verify the information.

Minnikhanov confirmed the strike and offered condolences to the families of those killed. “This is a tremendous pain for all of us,” Nizhnekamsk Mayor Radmir Belayev said. A period of mourning has been declared in Tatarstan.

Russia said its air defenses shot down more than 450 Ukrainian drones overnight, the BBC reported.

Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones to strike deep inside Russia, often targeting oil facilities, warehouses or energy infrastructure. NPR reported that Ukraine has hit Russian oil facilities almost daily in recent months, causing fuel shortages, reducing refining capacity and unsettling the Russian public. Kyiv has said such targets contribute revenue and logistics to Russia’s war effort.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the campaign as a way to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate and end the invasion, now more than four years old. “We do deliver entirely justified responses, and every Russian strike will be met with our response. Russia’s war will be felt more and more at their own home – in Russia,” Zelenskyy said late Sunday on social media. “The only reason this is still continuing is Russia’s unwillingness to end this war.”

Russia has continued regular large-scale aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities and residential areas, using missiles, glide bombs and drones. The BBC reported that a combined Russian drone and missile strike on Kyiv last week killed 21 people, and that five people were killed overnight in a Russian artillery attack on Kharkiv, near the front line.

The World Health Organization’s European office said Monday that one of its warehouses in Ukraine’s central Dnipro region had been struck twice in less than 24 hours. The attacks destroyed emergency supplies worth an estimated $500,000 that were intended for front-line health facilities, the WHO said. No casualties were reported.