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.
"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'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.