Ukraine conducts one of largest drone attacks on Russia - Reuters
Photo: Ukrainian drones striked 1300 kilometers from the front line (Getty Images)
Ukraine launches a large-scale drone strike on Russian territory. Russia's third-largest refinery and Shahed production facility were damaged in Tatarstan, according to Reuters.
Ukrainian drones attacked the refinery about 1300 km from the front line, hitting the main enterprise, which processes about 155,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Footage from the scene shows that the drone crashed into the CDU-7 primary refining unit at the Taneco refinery. The unit accounts for about half of the refinery's total annual production capacity.
The strike was one of several in Tatarstan, a highly industrialized region southeast of Moscow.
A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters in Kyiv that Ukraine had struck a major Russian oil facility in Tatarstan to cut Russia's oil revenues.
The source also said that Ukrainian-made drones had struck a Shahed factory, causing significant damage.
Last year, the Washington Post reported that Russia was mass-producing drones at a plant in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone.
Strikes on Russian refinery
According to Reuters, in recent months, Ukraine has begun attacking refineries in Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter, which has negatively affected Moscow's lucrative oil trade.
Reuters estimates that about 14% of Russia's refining capacity has been shut down by drone attacks.
Ukraine has launched a series of high-profile attacks deep into Russia, aimed either at undermining the Russian military machine or, as was the case with the 2023 drone attack on the Kremlin, at bringing the reality of war to the heart of Russia.
Ukrainian sources say that they are responsible for planning and conducting drone attacks on Russian territory. The US has repeatedly stated that it does not support Ukrainian strikes inside Russia.
April 2 attack
According to RBC-Ukraine, the April 2 night attack on the Tatarstan oil refinery was a joint operation between the Security Service of Ukraine and the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine. A long-range drone attacked the primary oil refining unit at the refinery in Nizhnekamsk, causing a fire.
In addition to the refinery in Tatarstan, a Shahed assembly plant was also damaged.
