KYIV: Ukraine brought the war into the heart of Russia Saturday morning with drone attacks that local authorities said damaged residential buildings in the city of Kazan in the Tatarstan region, over 1,000 km from the front line and some 500 miles (800 km) east of Moscow.
The press service of Tatarstan’s governor, Rustam Minnikhanov, said eight drones attacked the city. 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 cancelled on Saturday and Sunday. The airport reopened later on Saturday.
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.
Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry said the city had been attacked by three waves of drones between 7.40 am and 9.20 am. It said three drones were destroyed by air defence systems and three others by electronic warfare systems.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the attack, saying Ukraine was “taking out its impotent anger for real military defeats on the peaceful population of Russia”.
Airports in Izhevsk, a smaller city northeast of Kazan, and Saratov, some 650 km south of Kazan, had also temporarily halted flight arrivals and departures. Restrictions at the airports were later lifted.
Kremlin takes control of eastern Ukrainian village
Russian troops have captured the village of Kostiantynopolske in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday.
The settlement lies 10 km southwest of Kurakhove, which Russian troops have stormed and are threatening to encircle, according to DeepState.