Tatarstan on high alert: Several individuals arrested for drone launches
Authorities detain individuals who launched drones (Photo: Russian media)
Several people were detained in Russia’s Tatarstan region on suspicion of launching drones, according to Russian media outlet Kommersant.
Specifically, on August 13, information appeared on social media about unknown individuals launching a drone in a field within the republic. It was assumed these could be saboteurs.
Residents spotted them and called police, after which law enforcement detained them all.
According to Telegram channel Baza, the detainees turned out to be military academy cadets, and the incident resulted from a lack of coordination between military and police forces.
"They were launching one of the Russian drone models completely officially: the guys are training to be UAV operators," the channel writes.
According to Ъ Volga-Ural, the incident occurred at a facility conducting scheduled training exercises.
Kommersant reports that a source in the security forces denied claims that the individuals were saboteurs.
Drone attacks on Tatarstan
It should be noted that Russians have good reason to fear such incidents, since unknown and Ukrainian drones periodically penetrate their territory, attacking various military targets.
On August 9, the SBU reported that their drones hit a Shahed storage facility in Tatarstan. A fire broke out at the warehouse after the attack, as one of the drones scored a direct hit on the target.
Additionally, the Shahed kamikaze drone storage terminal in Tatarstan was also attacked on August 12. The strike hit drones ready for use, as well as foreign components for them.
