KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian drones attacked one of Russia's biggest oil refineries and a drone factory in the Russian province of Tatarstan, officials said Tuesday, in what appeared to be Kyiv's deepest strike inside Russian territory since the war began more than two years ago.
The attack on facilities near the cities of Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk, located some 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) east of Ukraine, injured 12 people, Russian regional authorities said.
In recent months, Russian refineries and oil terminals have become priority targets of Ukrainian drone attacks, part of stepped-up assaults on Russian territory.
Ukrainian drone developers have been extending the weapons' range for months, as Kyiv attempts to compensate for its battlefield disadvantage in weapons and troops. The unmanned aerial vehicles are also an affordable option while Ukraine waits for more U.S. military aid.
Neither side currently has the capacity to make much of a dent on the around 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.
Ukrainian security and intelligence officials said they targeted a “drone-production site” in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, using Ukrainian-produced long-range drones. Tatarstan is known for its high level of industrialization, and a factory near Yelabuga has reportedly built Iranian-designed Shahed exploding drones.
The Ukrainian officials also said that intelligence services were involved in an overnight attack on the Nizhnekamsk oil…
