(NIZHNEKAMSK, TATARSTAN, RUSSIA) – A Ukrainian drone attack on the city of Nizhnekamsk in Russia’s Tatarstan region has killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 70, according to local authorities. It is the deadliest attack inside Russia in more than two years.
The strike targeted a major oil processing hub. Independent Russian media suggest the attack may have targeted the Nizhnekamsk petrochemical complex, one of Europe’s largest such facilities. Several other major refining facilities are located in the same industrial zone. Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences intercepted and destroyed more than 450 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours across 16 Russian regions and occupied Crimea.
Local authorities said both industrial and civilian sites were hit. A day of mourning has been declared. Russian authorities accuse Ukraine of targeting civilians and are launching a terrorism investigation. A Russian investigator stated, “The Ukrainian armed forces carried out drone strikes against residential areas and industrial facilities in Nizhnekamsk. Civilians were killed, including a child, and several dozen were injured. Once again, the Kyiv regime has committed an inexcusable crime.”
The Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelenskyy defended the campaign, stating, “The operation against Russia’s oil refining sector continues, and they are feeling its effects. Russian air defence systems and radar stations were also hit. There were also our responses against Russian infrastructure in the Azov and Black Sea regions. The only reason this is still continuing is Russia’s unwillingness to end this war.”
DW correspondent Nick Connelly reported from Kyiv that Ukraine is keen to stress civilian casualties are incidental. “According to some of the Ukrainian monitoring channels that monitored these attacks on Russia, they are saying that lots of casualties were down to Russian forces downing a drone that was heading to those oil targets over a market that then hit civilians on the ground there. We still do not know if that is true,” Connelly said.
In the Tyumen region, drones reportedly struck Russia’s largest petrochemical complex around 2,200 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, underlining Kyiv’s growing long range strike capabilities.
DW correspondent Yuri Rishetto reported from Riga that the Russian public reaction is predictable. “They direct their anger primarily at Ukraine and even some people who have criticised the war and condemned Putin’s invasion, they say they are disappointed. They argue that Ukraine is now doing to Russians what it long accused Russia of doing to Ukrainians. At the same time, many of them recognise that Russia started this war.”
On the strategic impact, Connelly said the strikes aim to cause a budget crisis in Russia and demonstrate the war affects everyone. “The commander of Ukraine’s drone forces recently also saying that these attacks on marketplaces like Wildberries, the kind of Russian equivalent to Amazon, would be an inconvenience in everyday life to people far away.”
Charles Hecker, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told DW that Russian refining capacity is down by about 20% as a result of the attacks. “Energy being the lifeblood of the Russian economy and the lifeblood of its military finances, that capacity is severely damaged,” Hecker said. He noted that energy prices are quite high as a result of the war in Iran, providing a small compensating effect.
On civilian casualties, Hecker said the toll on the Ukrainian side is overwhelmingly greater. “Until very recently, the Russian civilian death toll has been incredibly small. This change will not really register significantly.”
Hecker assessed that Moscow’s air defences are primarily focused around Moscow and St. Petersburg, along with military installations. “I think that Russia has probably underestimated how far Kyiv can reach into Russian airspace,” he said. However, he warned that drone strikes have limits. “Kyiv has the upper hand when it comes to drones. But the problem is that drone attacks will only get you so far when you are facing a power that is able to manufacture more than 100 ballistic missiles a month and aim them straight at Ukraine.”
Inside Ukraine, Russian strikes continue almost nightly. On Sunday night, Russian forces hit Odesa, killing and injuring civilians, causing power outages, damaging homes, and damaging port facilities.
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