Ukraine drone strike on Nizhnekamsk kills 12 in deep Russia attack

A Ukrainian drone attack hit Nizhnekamsk in Russia's Tatarstan region, killing 12 and injuring 39. The strike highlights Kyiv's widening reach into Russian oil infrastructure as the war escalates.

In Short

• Officials said industrial and civilian facilities were targeted in the massive assault
• Nizhnekamsk lies about 1,200 kilometres from Ukraine and hosts major refineries
• Kyiv's drone campaign has dented Russian refining capacity and fuel supplies

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian city of Nizhnekamsk in the Tatarstan region killed 12 people and injured 39 others on Monday, regional authorities said. Officials said the city came under a "massive" attack that targeted industrial and civilian facilities.

The strike comes amid Ukraine's long-running campaign against Russian oil facilities using long-range drones. The attacks have been launched almost daily in recent months and have caused fuel shortages in Russia, reduced refining capacity and unsettled the Russian public.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the campaign is aimed at forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and bringing an end to Russia's more than four-year-old invasion. The press service of Tatarstan head Rustam Minnikhanov said Nizhnekamsk was attacked on Monday morning, but gave no further details. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment.

Nizhnekamsk is about 1,200 kilometres, or 750 miles, east of the Ukrainian border and has a population of around 240,000. It is an important oil refining centre with two refineries and a petrochemical plant. Ukraine's domestically developed long-range drones have been flying deeper into Russia, with some now reaching Siberia, about 2,000 kilometres, or 1,200 miles, from the border.

"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 also continued regular aerial attacks on Ukraine using missiles, glide bombs and drones, hitting civilian areas and causing thousands of civilian casualties, according to the United Nations.

In another development, the World Health Organization's European office said on Monday that one of its warehouses in Ukraine's central Dnipro region had been struck twice in less than 24 hours. It said emergency supplies worth an estimated USD 500,000 meant for front-line health facilities were destroyed. No casualties were reported. The latest attacks underlined the widening reach of the conflict, with casualties reported in Russia and damage to aid supplies in Ukraine.

With PTI Inputs

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