Panic when drone hits Tatarstan 800 miles inside Russia

A factory deep inside Russia accused of assembling Iranian drones for use against Ukraine was attacked early Tuesday, wounding at least 12 people, according to local authorities.

Russia's third-largest oil refinery was also attacked in the early morning in Tatarstan, which lies at least 800 miles from the front line in Ukraine, the deepest attack of any in Russia since the war began.

While Kiev did not officially take the credit, an unnamed source in the Ukrainian military was quoted as saying Ukrainska Pravda Agence France-Presse said the attack was carried out by military intelligence using drones similar to light aircraft. Footage purported to be of the attack in Yelabuga, in the Russian republic of Tatarstan, showed panic in what could be one of the most far-reaching drone strikes in Ukraine, if confirmed. In the video, what looks like a small plane can be seen careening toward a building as onlookers scream in horror, only to crash into the ground moments later when the building is struck and bursts into flames.

Authorities in Tatarstan said the building was housing for students and local workers, claiming that two of those injured in Tuesday's attack were only 17 years old. But a Ukrainian intelligence source was Quoted Ukrainian media said that the facility that was bombed was an assembly plant for Iranian-made Shahed drones.

An unnamed Ukrainian intelligence source said Reuters Tatneft's Taniko refinery was also hit in the attack, part of Kiev's attempt to reduce Russia's oil revenues. But Russian authorities downplayed the importance of the drone attack, saying that production at the Taniko refinery had not been interrupted.

Likewise, Tatarstan leader Rustam Minnikhanov said in a statement on Telegram that there had been “no serious damage” to the facility in Yelabuga.

“It is extremely important now to remain calm and not give in to the panic that the perpetrators of this crime are deliberately trying to sow,” Minnikhanov wrote.