At least 13 people have been killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian republic of Tatarstan, local officials have said.
They confirmed one child was among those killed, with 75 more people injured as drones hit Nizhnekamsk, more than 1,100 kilometres (680m) from the Ukrainian border. Ukraine’s Armed Forces said the city’s Tanevo oil refinery had been hit.
It is one of the deadliest single attacks on Russia since the start of Moscow’s full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022.
Kyiv has recently stepped up its long-range strikes on facilities it says contribute revenue and logistics to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The strike on Nizhnekamsk lasted several hours overnight and into the morning, according to local sources.
Verified images on social media show large plumes of smoke and flames rising into the sky in daytime, with air raid sirens howling in the background.
The Uzkbek consulate in Tatarstan said seven of those killed were citizens of Uzbekistan.
According to Russian news agency RIA, most of the victims had been staying in a hostel at the time of the attack, and Russia’s Investigative Committee said that “civilian individuals who were not involved in any military operations were present” where the drones struck.
The BBC has not independently verified this information. Moscow said that “all those involved in the attacks” would “face inevitable and severe punishment”.
Oil refineries in Nizhnekamsk had already been hit once – on 12 June.
“The facilities Ukraine targets are used to carry out attacks against Ukraine, manufacture weapons, support Russia’s war effort,” said Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation.