Ukrainian Drone Attack on Tatarstan Kills 13
Strikes hit Nizhnekamsk and Tyumen as Kyiv expands long-range campaign against Russian infrastructure.
Quick Look
A Ukrainian drone strike on Nizhnekamsk in Russia's Tatarstan region killed 13 people and wounded 48 others, as part of an escalating long-range campaign targeting Russian oil and energy infrastructure.
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Why It Matters
Both sides have increased long-range attacks on infrastructure as the war continues past four years.
A Ukrainian drone attack on the city of Nizhnekamsk, located in an energy-rich Tatarstan region of central Russia, killed at least 13 people, according to a local press service statement issued Monday.
The attack killed several Central Asians and a child, and wounded 48 more.
Over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the Russian-Ukrainian border, the region has many major oil refineries that Kyiv has targeted in recent strikes as both sides increase long-range attacks on infrastructure.
The United Nations said such attacks have led to a jump in civilian casualties in Russia and Ukraine.
Unspecified industrial and civilian targets had been hit in Monday's strike, Radmir Belyayev, the mayor of Nizhnekamsk, said in a statement on Telegram.
Russian investigators report that they have initiated a criminal investigation into what they say was a terrorist attack.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Kyiv of deliberately attacking civilians.
Ukraine's military said it struck the Taneco oil refinery overnight, adding that a fire was recorded at the site.
The Ukrainian strikes on refineries have led to some fuel shortages and reduced Russia's oil-refining capacity.
Russia has also regularly fired missiles, glide bombs and drones hitting civilian areas in Ukraine and causing thousands of civilian casualties, according to the United Nations.
Later on Monday, Kyiv said special Ukraine drone forces had also struck a Russian petrochemical plant in the Tyumen region.
Kyiv: Air campaign aims to bring Putin to negotiating table
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the campaign aims to force Russian President Vladimir Putin into negotiations to end the more than 4-year-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"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 in a social media post.
Ukraine's air force said Russia fired 126 drones in its overnight attack.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down 456 Ukrainian drones fired overnight. The ministry, however, does not include how many drones or missiles reach their targets or how many were intercepted in the Tatarstan region.
Near the front line in Ukraine, a Russian artillery strike killed five people in a village in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian officials said.
"On August 10, Russian forces carried out a massive artillery strike on the residential area of the village of Bugaivka in the Chuguiv district. Various houses were destroyed as a result of the enemy attack. Five people were killed," the regional prosecutor's office said in a statement on Telegram.
Open Questions
- What specific industrial targets were hit in Nizhnekamsk?
- Will the air campaign force renewed negotiations?
