Drone attack reported in Russian region hosting 'kamikaze' drone factory

Russian air defenses on April 23 opened fire against drones in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia’s Tatarstan, the site of a Shahed-type drone factory, independent news channel Astra reported.

Astra and other Telegram channels shared purported footage of a drone being shot down. Shot channel identified the drones as Aeroprakt A-22 and UJ-22 Airborne unmanned aircraft.

Russian air defenses shot down one Ukrainian airplane-type drone in Tatarstan at about 12:20 p.m. local time, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed, without providing further details or mentioning Alabuga.

The Ukrainian military has not commented on the claims, which could not be independently verified.

Alabuga lies more than 1,000 kilometers (over 600 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border. Ukrainian long-range drones struck the facility last April, aiming to disrupt Russian production of Shaheds and their Russian-made variants, Gerans, which are widely used in aerial attacks against Ukraine.

Over 6,000 Shahed-type drones were produced in Alabuga last year, as well as thousands of decoy drones used to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses, said Andrii Kovalenko, an official at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

“This year, Russia aims to produce 8,000-10,000 Shaheds/Gerans and 15,000 decoys in Alabuga,” Kovalenko said.

Throughout the full-scale war, Ukrainian long-range drones have targeted Russia’s industrial and military facilities deep in the rear to undermine its ability to wage its all-out war.

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The Kyiv IndependentKate Tsurkan