Air raid alerts in Russia have reached Siberia for the first time, with factories coming under attack
On the night of Monday 4 May, a large-scale missile and drone attack was recorded in Russia, marking a record in terms of the geographical extent of the air raid alert. Alerts were issued simultaneously across 18 regions of the country.
The alert was first declared in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, located more than 2,000 kilometres from the border with Ukraine. The restrictions were reported by the region’s head, Ruslan Kukharchuk, as well as local residents.
In addition, the warnings applied to the Astrakhan, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kurgan, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Oryol, Penza, Sverdlovsk, Tula and Chelyabinsk regions, as well as the Perm Krai, Bashkortostan, Mordovia, Tatarstan and Udmurtia.
Due to the large-scale threat, flight restrictions were imposed at 18 airports. In particular, airspace was closed over Volgograd, Kazan, Samara, Ufa, Perm, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities.
According to Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels and monitoring resources, strikes on several strategic targets were recorded. In Cheboksary, the ‘VNIIR Progress’ defence plant was hit. Local residents released footage from the scene, and the strike was confirmed by geolocation.
Later, reports emerged of further drone attacks on the same city.
At the same time, NASA’s FIRMS system detected a fire at the Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery in the Leningrad Oblast. This facility is one of the key fuel producers in north-western Russia.
