Fires reported at manufacturing sites in Russia following Ukrainian drone strikes
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Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Ukrainian forces appear to have struck industrial sites in the Russian cities of Tolyatti and Taganrog on Sept. 12, Russian Telegram media channels reported.
Ukrainian long-range drones reportedly struck a rubber manufacturing plant in Tolyatti, Samara Oblast, according to Telegram monitoring channels ExileNova+ and Supernova+. Known as "Russia's Motown," Tolyatti is located about 900 kilometers (560 miles) from the Ukrainian border and is home to Russia's largest state-owned car manufacturer AvtoVAZ.
Footage from residents of Tolyatti purportedly show Ukrainian drones flying over the city with a building on fire, billowing smoke. Other videos appear to show damage to a residential building caused by a downed drone, Supernova+ reported.
Previously, Ukrainian drones hit a rubber factory in Tolyatti on June 12. Ukraine's General Staff confirmed the attack, as well as damage to the plant, the products of which are used in the "further production of solid rocket fuel for tactical and ballistic missiles."
A car manufacturing plant was also reportedly hit by Ukrainian drones in Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, in southwestern Russia. The city, on the coast of the Sea of Azov, is around 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the Ukrainian border.
Resident footage from Taganrog show large fires, reportedly from an airfield near the city, according to Supernova+, with smoke plumes rising into the sky. NASA's FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System) shows multiple fires burning in the city.
At the time of publishing, the Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the reports nor the extent of the damage caused. Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the reported attack.
The strikes come amid Kyiv's continuing long-range drone campaign against Russian manufacturing plants aiming to cripple industries supplying the nation's military.
On Sept. 9, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SSO) carried out Kyiv's deepest strike into Russia so far in the full-scale war, attacking a natural gas facility 3,200 kilometers (1,988 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sept. 1 warned airlines, insurers, and foreign governments that Russian airspace "will be de facto closed" because of Ukrainian drones.
