Ukraine strikes Russian explosives plant in record drone offensive

Tuesday 07 October 2025 - 15:20

By: Dakir Madiha

Ukraine strikes Russian explosives plant in record drone offensive

Ukrainian forces launched one of the most extensive drone offensives of the war on October 6, 2025, targeting key Russian military infrastructure in what Moscow described as a massive assault involving 251 drones across 14 regions. The coordinated operation struck the Sverdlov explosives plant in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region and the Feodosiya oil terminal in occupied Crimea, dealing significant blows to Moscow’s war apparatus.

Strategic Russian sites under fire

Located some 800 kilometers from the Ukrainian border in Dzerzhinsk, the Sverdlov plant is among Russia’s most critical military production facilities. Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed multiple explosions and fires at the site, which manufactures explosives for artillery shells, guided aerial bombs, anti-tank missile warheads, and precision munitions. The plant is Russia’s only industrial-scale producer of octogen (HMX) and hexogen (RDX), compounds essential for the country’s ammunition supply chain.

Ukrainian drones also struck the Feodosiya oil terminal in occupied Crimea, igniting a massive fire visible from tens of kilometers away. The facility, capable of storing up to 250,000 tons of fuel, serves as the largest oil storage site in Crimea and a vital supply hub for Russian forces. Functioning as a multifunctional complex, it transfers petroleum products between rail, sea, and road transport systems.

Additional strikes targeted an ammunition depot belonging to Russia’s 18th Combined Arms Army in Crimea, though damage assessments are still ongoing. Russian regional governors acknowledged the scale of the attack, reporting drone interceptions across multiple regions, including one heading toward Moscow.

Ukraine’s expanding defense industry

The attacks coincide with Ukraine’s rapid expansion of domestic arms production. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the country’s drone and missile production capacity is projected to reach $35 billion by 2026. Currently, more than 40% of Ukraine’s frontline weaponry is domestically produced, with plans to raise that figure to at least 50% by year’s end.

Production of Ukraine’s self-propelled Bohdana artillery systems has quadrupled from 10 units per month in April 2024 to 40 units monthly. In 2024 alone, Ukrainian manufacturers produced and delivered 2.4 million mortar and artillery shells to frontline units. Zelensky also revealed plans to begin controlled arms exports by late 2025, with established platforms in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East to help finance essential defense systems.

The large-scale strike underscores Ukraine’s growing capability to conduct long-range precision attacks deep inside Russian territory while simultaneously strengthening its defense industrial base amid the ongoing war.