‘Wake Up, Guys, No One Will Protect You’ – Head of Tatarstan Calls For ‘Self-Defense’ Against Drones

The head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, has urged local enterprises in the region not to rely solely on air defense systems and instead take measures to “defend themselves against potential drone attacks.”

This announcement follows the first-ever drone attack since the outset of the war conducted in a remote Russian region on April 2.

“The Almighty gives us a sign: wake up, guys, no one will protect you except yourself. No need to wait for missile defense to work; it solves other tasks,” Minnikhanov said, speaking at a republican energy forum.

“We must solve on our own, every enterprise, every municipality, every city,” he added, without specifying how enterprises should repel attacks.

Ukrainian UJ-22 attack drones, which were attributed to Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence directorate, targeted an oil refinery in the city of Nizhnekamsk and a military drone production site in Russia’s Yelabuga special economic zone on Tuesday morning, April 2.

The fact that Ukraine’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) were able to strike at over 1,250 kilometers surprised most people, not the least the public in Tatarstan who, according to Tatar political expert Ruslan Aysin cited by the Moscow Times, “is scared and shocked by the fact that… the war came to them, [so far] from the front line.”

At least 13 people, including two 17-year-olds, were injured after one of the drones hit a workers dormitory.

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According to Tatarstan’s Health Ministry, all the injured were students at the Yelabuga Polytechnic College.

Videos on social media showed an aircraft-style drone flying into a two-story building at a business park outside the city before exploding, sending a fireball into the air.

Kyiv did not say where the attack was launched from. If launched from Ukrainian territory, it would be one of the most far-reaching drone strikes carried out by Kyiv's forces since the start of the fighting in February 2022. 

Kyiv has recently developed drones that can fly more than 1,000 kilometers, Ukraine’s Digital Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who is involved in the country’s drone program, told Germany's Welt newspaper in an interview published Monday.

Ukraine has claimed responsibility for several drone strikes on oil refineries in Russian territory.

It says they are a legitimate retaliation to Moscow’s targeting of its energy facilities, and aim to cripple Russia's fuel sector, vital for both its military and export earnings.