Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) says it used long-range unmanned aerial vehicles to strike a logistics hub storing Shahed one-way attack drones in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan on 9 August.

The facility is located in the settlement of Kzyl-Yul and, according to the agency, held completed drones and foreign-made components for their assembly.

A video released alongside the claim shows a drone hitting a building identified as part of the hub, after which a fire breaks out. The SBU said the distance from the point of launch to the target was roughly 1,300 kilometres. The agency framed the operation as part of a continuing effort to degrade Russian military capabilities at depth.

In a statement carried by Ukrainian outlets, the SBU described storage depots for Shahed-type drones as “legitimate military targets”, arguing that such strikes reduce Russia’s capacity to wage war. The assertion reflects Kyiv’s broader campaign of long-range drone operations against targets on Russian territory since late 2023.

There was no prompt public comment from Russia’s defence ministry on the specific incident. However, local media in Tatarstan reported the introduction of a “drone danger” alert in the republic in the early hours of 9 August, indicating an elevated air-threat posture.

The reported strike comes amid sustained attention on Tatarstan because of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone near Yelabuga, where Russia has been developing local production and assembly of Iranian-designed Shahed-136 drones, known domestically as Geran-2. Russian state media footage aired in July showed large-scale manufacturing at a facility in Yelabuga, while open-source assessments in late July suggested ongoing expansion of production capacity at Alabuga.

There have been earlier incidents linked to Shahed storage and production in the republic. In December 2024, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) reported a fire at a warehouse in the Alabuga zone that it said destroyed components valued at around $16 million. Kyiv’s claims regarding that incident were not corroborated by Russian authorities at the time, but the report highlighted the vulnerability of supply chains associated with Shahed-type systems.

The SBU has also publicised other long-range drone operations this summer. On 2 August, it said its UAVs struck a Shahed storage site at the Primorsko-Akhtarsk airfield in Krasnodar Krai and targeted an industrial facility elsewhere in Russia. Ukraine’s armed forces and security services have increasingly used domestically produced long-range drones to reach targets hundreds of kilometres from the front line.

The 9 August operation, if confirmed, would underline Ukraine’s capacity to reach well into Russia’s interior. Tatarstan lies more than 1,000 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Russia routinely reports the interception of Ukrainian drones across multiple regions—a narrative deployed for propaganda purposes—while detailed official acknowledgements of successful deep strikes are scarce.