A fire broke out in Russia's city of Kursk late on April 2, according to videos sent by eye-witnesses to several Telegram monitoring channels. Kursk Oblast Governor Roman Starovoit claimed that four drones were shot down over the city and surrounding areas.
The city mayor said via his official Telegram page that the attack damaged several residential buildings. There were no casualties. The Kyiv Independent is not able to verify this information.
Kursk lies in the south of Russia, around 90 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
Russia has been reporting drone attacks against its border regions for several months, with numerous strikes against oil refineries occurring in March. Since the onset of the full-scale war, Ukraine has intensified its strikes on oil infrastructure within Russia, particularly escalating in the late fall of 2023.
According to The Insider, there have been 15 drone attacks against 13 oil refineries in nine regions of Russia in 2024. Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukraine of being behind drone strikes. Ukraine hasn't claimed responsibility for these attacks.
According to a source within Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), a manufacturing facility for Shahed-type attack drones in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan was targeted by HUR operatives on April 2.
Drones hit industrial facilities in Tatarstan's Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk, allegedly injuring several people. Yelabuga is located over 1,200 kilometers away from the Russia-Ukraine border.
Russia's military has frequently employed Iranian-designed Shahed-type kamikaze drones to carry out attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure during the ongoing full-scale invasion, resulting in the deaths and injuries of numerous civilians.
Igor Kossov
