Ukrainian drones target Russian city 600 miles from the front line

Flights were halted at Kazan’s airport and all mass gatherings cancelled on Saturday and Sunday.

Ukraine has brought the war into the heart of Russia with drone attacks that damaged residential buildings in the city of Kazan in the Tatarstan region, more than 600 miles from the front line.

The press service of Tatarstan’s governor, Rustam Minnikhanov, said that eight drones attacked the city.

Six hit residential buildings, one hit an industrial facility and one was shot down over a river, the statement said.

A video posted on local Telegram news channel Astra, verified by The Associated Press, shows a drone flying into the upper floors of a high-rise building.

Local authorities said there were no casualties. Flights were halted at Kazan’s airport and all mass gatherings cancelled on Saturday and Sunday.

The attacks, which Ukraine did not acknowledge in keeping with its security policy, comes after a Ukrainian attack on Friday on a town in Russia’s Kursk border region using US-supplied missiles killed six people, including a child.

Moscow sent 113 drones into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, 57 drones were shot down during the attacks while further 56 drones were “lost”, likely having been electronically jammed.

The governor of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said eight people were wounded on Friday night in drone attacks on the regional capital, also called Kharkiv.

By Press Association