Editor's note: This article was updated to include a confirmation from Ukraine's military intelligence agency.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that it was behind a drone attack targeting Russian military facilities in Russia's Tatarstan Republic on May 23.
A source from the agency said the drones had reached the cities of Nizhnekamsk and Kazan, but did not specify the extent of the damage caused.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed earlier in the day that air defenses had shot down a Ukrainian drone in the area.
Russian Telegram channels shared videos showing a drone-like aerial vehicle above Nizhnekamsk and rising smoke.
Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency said that restrictions had been imposed on the departure and arrival of planes at Nizhnekamsk and Kazan airports around that time.
Rustem Nuriev, the mayor of the town of Yelabuga, claimed that a drone was downed in the Yelabuga disctrict. Yelabuga lies some 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) away from the Russia-Ukraine border. No casualties or damages were reported.
Ukrainian forces struck production facilities in Tatarstan's Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk for the first time on April 2, Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) reported. The targets were an oil refinery and a manufacturing facility for the Shahed-type attack drones, which Russia regularly uses in attacks against Ukraine.
Soon after, on April 17, a factory in Tatarstan producing bomber aircraft for the Russian military was also attacked by Ukrainian drones, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) source told the Kyiv Independent.
Kateryna Denisova
(Updated: )
