The authorities of Russian Tatarstan said that on Tuesday morning, businesses in Yelabuz and Nizhnyokamsk were attacked by drones.
The explosions were heard in the special economic zone "Alabuga", where enterprises are located more than 1,200 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
In Yelabuz, a factory for the assembly of Shahed drones was hit. In Nizhnyokamsk, a drone attacked an oil refinery complex
BBC sources in the security forces confirmed that the attacks on the oil refinery in Tatarstan are a joint operation of the SBU and the State Security Service.
Since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian drones have repeatedly attacked oil refineries in Russia, which, as the media reported, led to a reduction in fuel output.
A video of one of the strikes appeared on Russian Telegram channels. It shows a drone crashing into a building in Yelabuz, causing an explosion.
As the OEZ Telegram channel reported, at 5:45 a.m. local time, two drones allegedly hit the dormitory.
PHOTO AUTHOR, SCREEN/TELEGRAM Photo caption, Explosion in Yelabuz
The local authorities insist that there are no serious damages to the enterprises. "The technological process has not been disrupted," said the press release of the head of Tatarstan.
According to the latest data, seven people were injured as a result of the attack, three were hospitalized.
However, "RBK-Ukraine" with reference to a source claims that as a result of the strike there is significant destruction of production facilities. In the same way, the source of the Ukrainian Air Force in the law enforcement agencies points to large destructions.
Last year in August, the Washington Post reported that Russia wants to establish a large-scale production of Iranian-style drones at the Yelabuz plant. They planned to produce 6,000 Shaheds by 2025.
In the investigation of the journalists of the publication "Protokol" and the YouTube channel "RZVRT", it was claimed that students of the "Alabuga Polytechnic" college are allegedly involved in the assembly of kamikaze drones at the plant in the special economic zone.
PHOTO AUTHOR, THE WASHINGTON POST Photo caption, This is what the Russian factory for the production of "Shakhed" looks like, according to The Washington Post
Refinery in Nizhnyokamsk
Russian mass media also report that a drone attacked an oil refinery complex in Nizhnyokamsk. It is part of the Tatarstan oil refining complex.
According to the interlocutor of the TASS agency, a fire broke out as a result of the attack, which was extinguished in 20 minutes.
Telegram channel Baza writes that three people were injured.
At the same time, the Nizhnyokamsk authorities claim that the EW system intercepted the drone that attacked the refinery, and there were no casualties or damage.
According to Reuters, the drone attacked the AVT-7 primary oil processing facility at the Taneko Refinery owned by Tatnafta.
Sources of the Ukrainian Air Force in the security forces confirmed that the attacks on the oil refinery in Tatarstan were a joint operation of the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Security Service.
"A Ukrainian long-range drone hit the primary oil processing facility at the Nizhnyokamsk refinery, after which a fire broke out there. The capacity of this installation was 8 million tons of oil, which is 2.6% of the total annual refining of the Russian Federation per year. In addition, this plant is one of the five largest refineries in Russia."
PHOTO AUTHOR, ALABUGA.RU Photo Caption, The Special Economic Zone in Yelabuga was opened in 2007
In March, drone attacks on Russian refineries and other industrial facilities became more frequent.
However, this is the first time that Ukrainian drones have flown to Tatarstan - a distance of more than 1,200 kilometers.
Ukrainian mass media regularly report that GUR is behind drone attacks on Russian industrial facilities. Officially, Kyiv has not announced the strikes, but last week President Volodymyr Zelenskyi spoke in an interview with the Washington Post about the negative reaction of the US authorities to such attacks.
"We used our drones. No one can tell us that we can't," said Zelensky, linking the shelling of Russian refineries with the fact that Ukraine does not have air defense equipment to protect its energy infrastructure from Russian strikes.
The day before, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov told the German publication Welt that Ukraine is already producing unmanned aerial vehicles capable of traveling over a thousand kilometers.
He also noted that Ukraine has increased the production of long-range drones tenfold compared to last year.
"Most drones in use have a range of 700 to 1,000 kilometers. But now there are models that can fly more than 1,000 kilometers," Fedorov explained.
The video from Tatarstan shows large unmanned aircraft, which were not previously seen in the shots of the strikes.
Attacks on Russian refineries affect Russia's economy more than Western sanctions - CNN
According to CNN, citing several interviewed experts, most often Ukrainian drones do not attack fuel storage facilities, but refinery plants, where crude oil is processed and turned into fuel.
Experts believe that these attacks could affect the Russian economy more than the current sanctions, according to the publication of CNN.
"If you think about the sanctions that have been introduced, they largely bypassed the energy sector," explains Helima Croft from the investment bank RBC Capital Markets. "In fact, it was the export of energy carriers, crude oil, natural gas and refined products that gave Russia an economic lifeline to continue this war."
Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries have already led to an increase in global oil prices: this year the price of Brent oil has increased by almost 13%.
American officials are worried about the consequences of these strikes on the world economy, but "the impasse in Washington regarding the financing of Ukraine and the possibility of changes in the White House next year may give Kyiv some freedom of action," the publication says.
