Kyiv Post's sources from Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR) confirmed that Ukraine had targeted a drone assembly facility in Yelabuga and an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, both in Tatarstan, more than 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) from Ukraine.
The source said that Yelabuga factory strike was a special operation of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (HUR) and that the strike caused significant damage to drone production facilities.
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Meanwhile, Russian officials claimed that the Ukrainians had failed to reach their targets, and succeeded only in injuring people.
The press service of the head of the Tatar republic, Rustam Minnikhanov, wrote on Telegram:“Drone attacks took place against factories in Tatarstan at Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk.”
It added that the attacks: “did not cause serious damage and the activity in the factories was unaffected. Unfortunately, in Yelabuga, people were wounded.”
The special economic zone near Yelabuga houses chemical, mechanical engineering and metal treatment factories, one of which is believed to be used for the assembly of Shahed/Geran kamikaze drones.
Videos posted on Telegram allegedly show drones hitting targets in Tatarstan.
The city of Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan is home to the large Taneko oil refinery. Kyiv Post sources in special services claimed that the oil refinery was targeted in a second attack in the framework of a joint operation of the SBU and HUR.
British Defence Intelligence Update Ukraine 23 December 2024
According to the message from the source, a Ukrainian long-range drone struck a primary oil refining unit at a refinery in Nizhnekamsk, triggering a subsequent fire.
The capacity of this plant is 8 million tons of oil annually, representing 2.6% of the total annual processing capacity of the Russian Federation. Furthermore, this plant ranks among the five largest refineries in the Russian Federation.
"We are continuing to systematically work towards reducing Russia's ability to finance its war of conquest against Ukraine. Our aim is to minimize the flow of petrodollars to the Russian military budget by choking off their fuel supply," stated the source.
Tatarstan is one of the most economically developed regions of Russia, in the east-central part of European Russia about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of Moscow. The republic lies in the middle Volga River basin around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers.
Ukrainian social media channels were saying that the attacks were carried out by Ukrainian UJ-22 drones belonging to HUR, which Kyiv Post was able to verify.
Video posted on Telegram suggests that Russian authorities were playing down the extent of the damage caused.
The security forces in Tatarstan have been put on high alert.
Ukrainian drone strike in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, where Russia built a facility to make Shahed drones. It is the longest range strike so far, some 700 miles away. pic.twitter.com/ruAJDTUOld
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) April 2, 2024
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