MOSCOW — Ukraine has delivered one of its deadliest single attacks since the beginning of the Moscow’s full-scale war on its neighbor four years ago, killing 13 people and wounding 39 others in a strike in Tatarstan deep inside Russia, officials said on Monday.
Kyiv has not yet commented on the attack on the city of Nizhnekamsk, which is more than 1,100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and home to several major oil refineries and a large petrochemical company. The city has a population of 240,000.
The strike lasted several hours overnight and into the morning, local sources say.
Unverified footage on social media show large plumes of smoke and flames rising into the sky in daytime, with air raid sirens howling in the background.
Although there is no official information yet on the target of the attack, Both sides have significantly escalated their long-range attacks this year, causing a spike in civilian deaths, according to the United Nations.
Moscow confirmed industrial facilities were targeted as well as residential areas. “Civilian individuals who were not involved in any military operations were present,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said.
Kyiv has recently stepped up its strikes on facilities it says contribute revenue and logistics to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, confirmed the strike and shared his condolences with the families of the deceased.
“This is a tremendous pain for all of us,” said Nizhnekamsk mayor Radmir Belayev.
A period of mourning has been declared in Tatarstan.
More than 450 Ukrainian drones were shot down by the Russian air defenses overnight, Moscow said.
Kyiv has become increasingly successful at carrying out long-range strikes on Russia, often targeting warehouses or energy infrastructure, with civilian casualties mounting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says it is a campaign to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and stop his more than 4-year-old invasion.
“We do deliver entirely justified responses, and every Russian strike will be met with our response. Russia’s war will be felt more and more at their own home — in Russia,” Zelensky said late Sunday on social media.
“The only reason this is still continuing is Russia’s unwillingness to end this war.”
Russia, meanwhile, continues to target Ukraine with regular large-scale aerial attacks on cities and residential centers mounting. Last week, a combined drone and missile strike on Kyiv killed 21 people.
And in Kharkiv, near the front line, five people were killed overnight in a Russian artillery attack.
“On August 10, Russian forces carried out a massive artillery strike on the residential area of the village of Bugaivka in the Chuguiv district. Various houses were destroyed as a result of the enemy attack. Five people were killed,” the regional prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Telegram.
Source: Saudi Gazette