A Ukrainian drone attack leaves at least 13 dead in the Russian region of Tatarstan
The accumulation of air defenses in Moscow increases the vulnerability of the rest of the country
MoscowThe escalation in aerial attacks in the Ukraine war has once again resulted in civilian casualties. Following last week's deadly bombings against Kyiv, this Monday Ukrainian drones attacked the Republic of Tatarstan, in the center of European Russia, killing at least 13 people and injuring 38 more. The unusual magnitude of the consequences of the attack, one of the deadliest on Russian territory since the start of the invasion, reveals the difficulties Vladimir Putin faces in protecting the immense expanse of the country, beyond Moscow, an almost impregnable city.
According to images circulating on Ukrainian channels, the target of the bombing was the industrial complex of Nizhnekamsk, home to one of Europe's largest petrochemical plants and two refineries, accounting for 8% of the total oil distillation capacity in the initial stage of the process. Regional authorities have provided practically no details of the events or the circumstances of the deaths. The head of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, limited himself to describing it as "another barbaric attack" against "civilian targets," reporting that among the victims was a child, and declared a day of mourning.
One of the spokespersons for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rodion Miroshnik, also believes that Ukraine is carrying out "a deliberate escalation" and resorting to "terrorist methods" to strike civilians. From his point of view, Volodymyr Zelensky's purpose is "to intimidate the civilian population through assassinations and mutilations." He also takes for granted that the West is blessing these kinds of actions in order to alter the mood of Russian society and "politically weaken" the regime.
This is the third deadliest bombing on Russian territory since the beginning of the war. There were only more deaths in two attacks on the Belgorod region, in 2023 and 2024. Belgorod, however, borders the Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Kharkiv and was the scene of incursions by Kyiv's troops. In contrast, Tatarstan is about 1,200 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and, therefore, it is much less common for drones to be able to cause so much damage there.
Much of Russia, unprotected
That this is happening precisely now is not fortuitous. Ukraine has increased the waves of drones it sends daily to Russia and, in fact, during the early hours of Monday it launched more than 450. Faced with this scenario, the Kremlin has opted to exceptionally reinforce the anti-aircraft batteries of the Russian capital, one of the most frequent targets of Ukrainian unmanned vehicles. For this reason, it has increased the number of protection systems around the city: it currently has three rings with between 120 and 150 positions to repel drone attacks, a fourth ring is being deployed, and launchers are being installed on the roofs of skyscrapers.
The data provided by the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, show that, while Ukrainian aircraft are capable of threatening the capital, their defenses are very effective. In July, it is estimated that Kyiv's air forces sent more than 6,200 drones against the city. Of these, only one was able to penetrate all the protection rings, that is, 0.07%. As for the rest, just over a hundred, approximately 6%, managed to reach the third defensive ring, located on the ring road surrounding the city, about twenty kilometers from Red Square.
The collateral effect of this concentration of anti-aircraft batteries is the lack of protection for a large part of non-urban Russia and that the number of civilian casualties breaks all records. While Zelensky struggles to resist the waves of Russian missiles and sees civilians lose their lives with each bombing - of 124 projectiles received in August, Ukrainian defenses have only been able to intercept one - Putin cannot prevent drones from causing havoc within his country, despite being a less destructive type of armament. Not going any further, on Sunday Belgorod suffered the deadliest attack in the last two years with six deaths and about thirty injured.