Drones struck industrial targets producing Shahed-136 drones in Russia’s Tatarstan Region. The press service of the Alabuga special economic zone said that one of its dormitories was damaged in the attack and two people were wounded.
Drones struck industrial facilities in Russia’s Tatarstan region on April 2, injuring several people, local officials said.
“This morning, the republic’s industrial enterprises in Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk were attacked by drones. There is no serious damage, the technological process of the enterprises was not disrupted,” Rustam Minnikhanov, the leader of Russia’s autonomous republic of Tatarstan, said in a post on his Telegram channel.
The Yelabuga district is designated as a special economic zone — called Alabuga — hosting more than 20 industrial enterprises, including chemical and mechanical engineering and metal treatment factories. It is also reported to be producing drones.
Nizhnekamsk is home to a large gasoline refinery.
The press service of Alabuga said that one of its dormitories was damaged in the attack and two people were wounded, Russian state-controlled media outlet RIA Novosti reported.
A total of seven people were injured in the drone strikes, Russian media reports said.
There has been no official claim of responsibility. The sites are more than 1,200 kilometers from the Ukraine-Russia border.
“RBK-Ukraine” reports, citing its sources, that the attack on the drone factory in Alabuga was organized by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR).
In recent weeks, Ukraine has carried out attacks on Russian oil refineries and other industrial facilities with long-range drones.
An attack on March 17 targeted a dozen Russian oil refineries, reportedly amounting to about 12 percent of Russia’s oil-processing capacity.
The Washington Post reported in August 2023, citing leaked documents, that Russia was establishing a production line in Tatarstan to build 6,000 attack drones by the summer of 2025.
The manufacturing plans entailed an expansion in the scale of production of a Russian version of Iranian Shahed drones, which would improve on “Iran’s dated manufacturing techniques.”
An Iranian delegation reportedly visited the Alabuga special economic zone close to Alabuga Polytechnic University in January. U.S. officials released satellite images in April of the plant being built.
The documents revealed that the production facilities were at the Alabuga special economic zone, the same location as the alleged drone strike on April 2.
© 2024, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.