News Flash
MOSCOW, Dec 21, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Kyiv on Saturday staged a major drone attack
on the Russian city of Kazan, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the frontier,
as Moscow's troops captured a new frontline village in eastern Ukraine.
The drones damaged buildings in Kazan, capital of the Tartarstan republic,
with a population of more than 1.3 million, but there were no victims, local
officials said.
Kazan City hall said some fires had started and were being tackled by the
fire brigade.
The city's airport was temporarily closed, the Russian civilian aviation
authority, Rosaviatsia, said.
Some residents were evacuated, but authorities did not give figures.
Authorities said that all major public events in Tartarstan had been
cancelled as a precaution.
Videos on Russian social media networks showed drones hitting high rise
buildings setting off fireballs.
AFP could not immediately verify the authenticity of the images.
Ukraine, which has staged regular attacks on targets inside Russia since the
start of full scale military offensive in February 22, did not immediately
comment.
"Today Kazan suffered a massive drone attack," Rustam Minnikhanov, the
Tartarstan republic leader, said in a post on Telegram.
"While before industrial enterprises were attacked, now the enemy attacks
civilians in the morning," he added.
Minnikhanov's press service said at least eight drones had been detected.
Russia's defence ministry accused Ukraine of targeting "civilian
infrastructure" in Kazan. It said six drones had been neutralised or
destroyed but did not say how many had been involved.
The ministry said the Russian army had captured a new village near the key
city of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine where Russian forces have made major
advances in recent months.
Russian troops had "liberated" the village of Kostiantynopolske, just eight
kilometers (five miles) from Kurakhove, an industrial town that is a looming
Russian target, a statement said.
Russia on Friday staged strikes on the Ukraine capital, Kyiv, that left one
dead and 13 wounded, according to the city's authorities.
Another five people were killed in a Ukrainian attack on the Russian frontier
region of Kursk, the local governor said.
Russia's security service said meanwhile that a man had been sentenced to 19
years in jail for sending information to US intelligence services about the
Russian military,
The unidentified man, who was born in 1993, was found guilt of "high treason"
and other charges, the FSB agency said.
The inquiry "confirmed that he had established a confidential cooperation
relationship with representatives of the US intelligence services," the
agency said.
The man was accused of sending information about the identity and other
personal details on Russian soldiers. He was arrested in January 2023.
A regional court at Orenburg in the Urals ordered the jail term and sent the
man to a "strict regime" penal colony, the FSB said.
It released images of the man surrounded by agents and in court.
Russian courts have ordered multiple heavy jail terms for treason, terrorism
and sabotage since the start of the military offensive.