Attack hundreds of miles from border would be among deadliest of war as Kyiv aims to strangle Russian economy<\/p>\n
A Ukrainian drone strike on an industrial city deep inside Russia has killed at least 13 people, according to the local mayor, as Kyiv steps up its campaign of long-range strikes on targets far from the frontline.<\/p>\n
Kyiv said it hit the Taneco refinery in the city of Nizhnekamsk, about 750 miles (1,200km) from the Ukrainian border. Footage circulating online appeared to show smoke rising from the refinery.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s general staff said the raid was part of a campaign to reduce the \u201cmilitary potential of the Russian aggressor\u201d.<\/p>\n
Russian investigators claimed civilian and industrial sites in the city had been hit. The head of the Tatarstan region, Rustam Minnikhanov, said a Ukrainian drone hit a hostel, killing nine people. He posted images showing a badly damaged building.<\/p>\n
If the death toll is confirmed, the strike would be among the deadliest Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, underscoring the growing reach of Kyiv\u2019s strikes deep inside Russia.<\/p>\n
The Uzbek consulate said in a Telegram post that seven of the victims were Uzbek citizens. Minnikhanov declared a day of mourning and Russian prosecutors opened a criminal case into alleged terrorism.<\/p>\n
Local video footage showed Ukrainian drones buzzing above the city\u2019s skyline, flying low over grey and box-like Soviet-era apartment blocks. Two plumes of black smoke could be seen rising above an industrial zone on the wooded outskirts of Nizhnekamsk.<\/p>\n
The site is home to Taneco, one of Russia\u2019s biggest and most technologically advanced oil refineries, owned by Tatneft. It also houses a plant that produces rubber and petrochemical products. Ukraine also bombed the area in June.<\/p>\n
In an address on Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said \u201clong-range sanctions\u201d against the Kremlin and its war machine would continue. In recent months Ukrainian drones have wreaked havoc on Russia\u2019s oil export industry, even hitting refineries in Siberia, 1,500 miles from the frontline.<\/p>\n
The governor of the Tyumen region in western Siberia said on Monday that several Ukrainian drones had fallen on an industrial facility and that emergency services were dealing with a fire.<\/p>\n
There have been several strikes on warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia\u2019s equivalent of Amazon, as well as on oil tankers in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea. Ukraine\u2019s long-term goal is to slowly strangle the Russian economy so Moscow can no longer fund its war.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy described his country\u2019s remote bombing campaign as \u201centirely justified\u201d. \u201cEvery Russian strike [on Ukrainian towns and cities] will be met with our response. Russia\u2019s war will be felt more and more at their own home \u2013 in Russia,\u201d he said on social media. \u201cThe only reason this is still continuing is Russia\u2019s unwillingness to end this war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s defence ministry said it had intercepted 456 Ukrainian drones flying above Russian territory and annexed Crimea. Ukraine says it is knocking out its opponent\u2019s air defence systems more quickly than they can be replaced, creating air corridors or \u201cdoors\u201d it can exploit.<\/p>\n
A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day<\/p>\n