A Ukrainian drone attack on Monday hit the Russian city of Nizhnekamsk in the Tatarstan region, more than 600 miles from the Ukrainian border, and killed at least 13 people, including a child, and wounded 75, as the US-backed Ukrainian drone attacks continue to inflict a significant toll on civilians.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said that the strike hit industrial sites and residential buildings, and Rustam Minnikhanov, the head of the Republic of Tatarstan, said nine of the dead were killed when a drone hit a hostel.
“We inspected the hostel where people died. Ordinary workers, having breakfast before the start of the working day. An enemy drone killed 9 people in an instant,” Minnikhanov wrote on Telegram. He said that a five-year-old girl was also killed when she was sleeping by a drone that hit her home.
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, seven Uzbek nationals were among the dead. The Ukrainian military took credit for the attack on the city, claiming it hit an oil refinery, and videos from social media show plumes of black smoke outside Nizhnekamsk, apparently from an oil facility.
According to a recent report from the Financial Times, the US provides Ukraine with intelligence to bypass Russian air defenses for its long-range drone attacks targeting Russian oil facilities.
Heavy Ukrainian drone and shelling also targeted Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, which borders Ukraine, and at least one person was killed. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that its forces downed 456 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions and the Black and Azov Seas overnight.
Russian strikes also hit Ukraine, and at least 24 people were injured by a glide bomb attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia, according to The Associated Press. Russia typically responds to Ukrainian drone attacks that cause significant civilian casualties by launching major missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.
