Ukraine has brought the war into the heart of Russia with drone attacks that local authorities said damaged residential buildings in the city of Kazan in the Tatarstan region, over 1000km from the front line.
The press service of Tatarstan's governor, Rustam Minnikhanov, said that eight drones attacked the city on Saturday. Six hit residential buildings, one hit an industrial facility and one was shot down over a river, the statement said.
A video posted on local Telegram news channel Astra, verified by The Associated Press, shows a drone flying into the upper floors of a high-rise building.
Local authorities said there were no casualties. Flights were halted at Kazan’s airport and all mass gatherings canceled on Saturday and Sunday.
The attacks, which Ukraine didn’t acknowledge in keeping with its security policy, comes after a Ukrainian attack Friday on a town in Russia’s Kursk border region using US-supplied missiles killed six people, including a child.
Moscow sent 113 drones into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian officials said. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, 57 drones were shot down during the attacks. A further 56 drones were “lost,” likely having been electronically jammed.
The governor of Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said eight people were wounded Friday night in drone attacks on the regional capital, also called Kharkiv.
In the city of Zaporizhzhia, four people were wounded when a nine-story residential building was damaged by falling drone debris on Friday night, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Moscow’s troops also continue to slowly advance in eastern Ukraine. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that its forces had taken control of the village of Kostiantynopolske in Ukraine’s Donetsk province, just six miles from the besieged city of Kurakhove, which they are trying to encircle.
