Putin vows retaliation for Ukrainian drone strike

22.12.2024 15:03

Photo: Sputnik.Alexander Kazakov

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the organizers of Saturday’s drone attack on the city of Kazan will face a harsh retaliatory response.

“Whoever and no matter how hard they try to destroy something [in Russia], they will face many times greater destruction in their own country for it and will also regret what they are trying to do in our country,” he said Sunday.

Putin assured Tatarstan's leader, Rustam Minnikhanov, that the republic would recover from the attack on its capital, Kazan.

“I am confident that the regional authorities will restore everything that was damaged by our enemies and adversaries,” he said, speaking at a video conference on launching new transport infrastructure projects.

The December 21 attack on Kazan targeted residential buildings and a factory, causing damage but no casualties, according to local authorities. Officials reported eight drone strikes in total, including six on residential buildings, one on an industrial enterprise, and one which was intercepted over a river.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev had deployed three waves of fixed-wing drones, targeting Kazan’s civilian infrastructure. Russian air defenses shot down three of the incoming UAVs, and three more were downed with the help of electronic warfare systems, the military reported on Saturday.