Ukraine's military intelligence hints drone attacks on military facilities in Russia to continue, 'range will increase'

Dinara Khalilova, The Kyiv Independent news desk
·2 min read

Andrii Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), hinted on April 4 that drone strikes on military facilities inside Russia will continue and "their range will increase."

Over the past weeks, Ukraine has carried out increasingly regular attacks on Russian oil refineries and other military and industrial facilities with long-range drones.

Ukraine targeted industrial facilities in Russia's Tatarstan on April 2, over 1,200 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Russian border, sources in HUR and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent. The targets included a manufacturing facility for Shahed-type attack drones and one of Russia's largest oil refineries, Taneco.

Kyiv usually doesn't officially comment on strikes on Russian soil.

Speaking on national television, Yusov stressed that HUR "does not comment, confirm or deny who hit (the facilities in Tatarstan) and with what."

Read also: How Ukraine hit a Russian drone factory 1,300 kilometers away

"But we saw that 'good flying objects' reached several military facilities on the territory of Russian-occupied Tatarstan."

According to preliminary data cited by Yusov, the attack caused "significant damage" to the production capabilities of the Shahed facility, and resuming the enterprise's work "will be difficult."

"These are good results… and we are all happy about it. I think that there will be similar joys in the future. And their range will increase."

Russia's military has used Iranian-designed Shahed-type kamikaze drones to attack Ukraine's cities and critical infrastructure regularly throughout the full-scale invasion, killing and injuring dozens of civilians.

The attack on industrial facilities in Tatarstan came a day after Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said that Ukraine has domestically-produced attack drones capable of flying over 1,000 kilometers.

Read also: Ukrainian drones hit one Russian oil refinery after another

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