War in Ukraine: kyiv strikes in Tatarstan, 1,600 km inside Russian territory

The Russian authorities speak of a residential building being hit, while kyiv speaks of strikes against refineries.

A Ukrainian drone attack targeted a town in Tatarstan, in central Russia, injuring people and causing the cancellation of celebrations on Friday June 12, according to local authorities.

Radmir Beliaev, the mayor of the industrial city of Nizhnekamsk, located in the Republic of Tatarstan

some 1,600 km from the Ukrainian border

reported on Telegram a Ukrainian drone attack on a residential building. According to the mayor, the attack left four injured.

“For security reasons, it has been decided to cancel all public events planned for today,” he said. June 12 is Russia Day, a national holiday. Following this strike, more than 20 people were moved to temporary accommodation, according to the mayor.

The Ukrainian General Staff, for its part, claimed responsibility on Telegram for nighttime strikes in Tatarstan that targeted two oil refineries located in Nizhnekamsk. Furthermore, during the night, in Suzemka in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, at least two civilians were killed in artillery fire, acting governor Egor Kovalchuk said on Telegram.

On the Ukrainian side, a woman was killed and another injured in a Russian drone strike in Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine, the head of the regional military administration, Oleg Grygorov, said on Telegram on Friday.

Intensification of Ukrainian strikes

“Unfortunately, a 44-year-old woman was killed during the attack (…) Another woman, aged 33, was seriously injured,” he said. According to him, a three-story non-residential building was also seriously damaged during the strike. According to Ukrainian Railways, the killed woman was an employee.

The mayor of Moscow also indicated that around ten Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow were intercepted during the night.

kyiv has intensified its retaliatory strikes in Russia in recent months

targeting Russian cities as far as the Ural Mountains, hundreds of km from the Ukrainian border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged last week that Russia needs to improve its air defense systems.

US-led talks to end more than four years of war have taken a back seat since the Middle East conflict erupted at the end of February. Moscow’s large-scale offensive against Ukraine in 2022 has sparked the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, with thousands of civilians and at least tens of thousands of soldiers killed.