Sources: HUR confirms attack on Russian bomber factory in Tatarstan

Illustrative purposes only: Tu-22M and Tupolev Tu-160 take part in a rehearsal for 2020 Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Tverskaya Street on June 20, 2020. (Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A factory in Russia’s Tatarstan producing bomber aircraft for the Russian military was attacked by Ukrainian drones on the morning of April 17, Kyiv’s military intelligence (HUR) has confirmed.

A military intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent there were no details at present on damage or casualties but claimed the facility manufactures Tu-22M and Tu-160M bombers, both of which are regularly used to target Ukrainian cities in mass missile strikes.

Earlier on April 17, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed two Ukrainian drones had been downed over the republics of Mordovia and Tatarstan.

Tatarstan is a Russian republic located around 700 kilometers east of Moscow and some 1,300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

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Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said that restrictions had been imposed on the departure and arrival of planes at the airports of Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, and Nizhnekamsk from around 7-8 a.m. local time “to ensure the safety of civilian aircraft.”

Tatarstan was also targeted by Ukrainian drones on April 2 when facilities reportedly manufacturing Shahed-type attack drones were hit in the cities of Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk.

That strike marked one of the deepest attacks on Russian territory since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Ukraine has not confirmed what type of drones was used in the attack but Russian media claimed that rather than a regular drone, it was a converted Ukrainian-produced Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat light aircraft.

In recent weeks and months, Russian authorities have reported an increasing number of drone strikes targeting Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Leningrad oblasts, as well as other regions.