**Ukraine Targets Russian Drone Storage Facility in Tatarstan**
In a bold move, drones operated by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) launched a strike on August 9 against a storage facility in Russia’s Tatarstan Republic. The target was a warehouse housing Shahed-type drones and foreign components used in their assembly.
This is not the first time Ukraine has targeted facilities in Tatarstan since the start of the full-scale war in 2022. The region’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone is home to a facility that manufactures Shahed-type long-range attack drones and other reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
**Long-Range Strike**
The Ukrainian drones, flown from the Security Service’s Special Operations Center “A”, traveled approximately 1,300 kilometers (about 800 miles) to reach their target. The strike hit a logistics hub in the village of Kizil-Yul, igniting a fire at the site.
According to an SBU statement, the agency views storage sites for Shahed drones as legitimate military targets. These drones are used by Russia to terrorize Ukraine every night, and destroying them is essential to demilitarizing Russian military facilities deep inside enemy territory.
**Unverified Claims**
The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims made by the SBU. However, the agency has a track record of successfully targeting key Russian military assets in recent months.
In an earlier strike on August 4, Ukrainian drones destroyed five Russian fighter jets at an airfield in Saky, a city in Russian-occupied Crimea. The strike damaged another Su-30SM aircraft and hit three Su-24s, as well as an aviation weapons depot.
**Russia’s Response**
Russia has not officially commented on the reported strikes by Ukraine. However, the country has been known to deny or downplay such incidents in the past.
The Ukrainian SBU continues its systematic efforts to demilitarize Russian military facilities deep inside enemy territory. As long-range attacks and drone usage become more prominent in modern warfare, these efforts are likely to be crucial in weakening Russia’s war capabilities.
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