Appearance of Ukrainian Drones in Tatarstan Closes Airports and Enterprises

The press secretary of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Artem Korenyako, said on his Telegram channel that operations at the airports of Kazan and Nizhnekamsk, in Tatarstan, were suspended because of the threat of drone attacks.

The closure followed a Russian Defense Ministry statement that said, “a Ukrainian drone of a plane type” was shot down over Tatarstan at 7:30 a.m. local time.

The Baza Telegram channel reported that two drones were spotted over the city of Nizhnekamsk, while one of them was destroyed by air defense forces the other flew over the Nama River south in the direction of Gaynullina Street.

This led to the mass evacuation of the Taneco oil refinery, the Orgsintez plant, Taif-NK, and several other enterprises which, according to the Shot Telegram channel, included staff from the Nizhnekamsk thermal power plant.

These evacuations and airport closures were a “safety first” reaction to earlier attacks on the region.

In April Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR) carried out strikes aimed at the Yelabuga drone assembly plant and an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, more than 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from Ukraine.

On Wednesday, May 15 the Kazan and Nizhnekamsk airports were again closed following the shooting down of a Ukrainian attack drone by Russian air defenses.

The May 15 Tatarstan incursion was part of a concerted attack by Ukrainian drones which hit a fuel depot in the Proletarsky district of the Rostov region and an ATACMS missile strike on the Belbek military airfield near Sevastopol.