At least 3 drones and 13 injured: how Tatarstan survives drone attack
Criminal cases will be initiated in Moscow
There are currently eight students and staff in the Yelabuga City Hospital who were injured by a drone raid on the campuses of the Alabuga Polytechnic College dormitory. There are also foreign citizens among them, including a 17-year-old teenager from Kyrgyzstan. “There is no threat to life, the condition is mild and moderate," the press service of the head of Tatarstan told Realnoe Vremya. Representatives of the special services are working at the sites of the attacks in Alabuga SEZ and the Nizhnekamsk industrial zone, who have been instructed to collect primary data as soon as possible and transfer all materials to the central offices of the Investigative Committee of Russia and the Federal Security Service. They will decide on which articles to qualify the attacks. The Kremlin has already called them manifestations of terrorism.
“Whom were they thinking to intimidate?"
On 2 April, at dawn, drones carried out targeted strikes on the facilities in the industrial zone of Nizhnekamsk and Alabuga SEZ. It has been officially confirmed that one aircraft-type drone tried to attack the petrochemical plant. Telegram channels reported that two drones were flying to Nizhnekamsk.
“There is no serious damage, the technological process of the enterprises is not disrupted. Unfortunately, there are victims in Yelabuga as a result of the destruction of the premises. They are being provided with all the necessary assistance," this release from the Kazan Kremlin appeared first — at 8 o'clock in the morning.
“The drone did not explode, the electronic warfare system was working. Yesterday, this aircraft was defused. There was no fire, no damage, no injuries. Everything is under control," Nizhnekamsk Mayor Ramil Mullin told TASS later after the attack. In his Telegram channel, he appealed to residents to remain calm, not to panic and trust information from official sources.
In turn, Timur Shagivaleev, CEO of Alabuga SEZ, recorded his appeal at the site of the second attack:
“Indeed, they are attacking shopping malls in Moscow, they are attacking residential areas in Belgorod, they are attacking dormitories at 5.45 a.m. in Alabuga. It is against such people that we are conducting the special military operation. These drones were equipped with equipment from NATO countries. Two people were injured. Whom were they thinking to intimidate? The descendants of the people who took Paris in 1814 and Berlin in 1945?"
It has been officially confirmed that two drones raided the dormitory of the Alabuga Polytechnic College after 5 a.m. At the same time, there was a time interval between the first and second explosion, during which the residents managed to evacuate, but did not run away — that's why they suffered from shrapnel.
At the same time, the second blow was caught on video, and the footage captures the approach, the moment of the attack and the explosion itself — behind one of the buildings. One can also see — despite the early morning, there was a cluster of cars on the road to Yelabuga and a traffic police car is already on duty. According to locals, traffic police officers regularly post posts on this section of the road.
Part of the facade is damaged in the building, the windows are broken. Experts will have to assess the internal injuries.
A 17-year-old Kyrgyz citizen among the injured
Explosions were also heard in Yelabuga, which is located at a distance from the special economic zone. Initially, they talked about five victims. At the moment, their number has grown to thirteen.
“Nine people were taken to the hospital by ambulance crews, four sought assistance by themsleves. After carrying out medical and diagnostic measures, five were released for outpatient treatment. Eight were hospitalised," the press service of the rais of Tatarstan clarified to Realnoe Vremya, adding that the victims, including two minors, have shrapnel wounds and bruises, but there is no threat to life, their condition is assessed by doctors as mild and moderate severity. Rustam Minnikhanov promptly visited Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk, assessing the scale of the destruction at the scene of the emergency.
One of the wounded is a 17-year-old Kyrgyz citizen. This information was released yesterday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic, noting that representatives of the consulate in Kazan intend to visit the victim that day.
Also under attack there were several residents of African countries who came to Alabuga for education and work.
The head of the Ministry of Healthcare of Tatarstan visited the hospital, however, the department has so far refrained from making official comments about the victims.
The security agencies also kept silence for several hours. After that, the Investigative Committee of Russia released information about new air attacks in three regions of Russia:
- nine civilians were injured in the shelling of Belgorod by the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
- one person was injured in the shelling of the Kievsky district of Donetsk;
- there are victims of the attack of unmanned aerial vehicles in Tatarstan (the figure in the message is not specified).
However, the release does not say where the aerial “saboteurs” came from in the central part of Russia. No criminal case has been opened yet. According to Realnoe Vremya data, employees of the security agencies and the FSB are working at the arrival sites, and the task has been set to collect materials about the incident as soon as possible and send them to Moscow.
“The Kyiv regime continues its terrorist activity. First of all, we and our military are working to minimise this threat, and subsequently completely eliminate it," Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, commented on the attack on facilities in Zakamye at a briefing.
The head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, who visited the crime scene in Yelabuga, examined the damaged buildings of the dormitory, instructed the builders to restore them in a short time. At the meeting, he told the students of Alabuga Polytechnic: “As I see, you are great fellows, you will not be scared. But you have to be more vigilant, you have to be more careful.” In Nizhnekamsk, Minnikhanov held a meeting with the heads of enterprises.