Agents of the Atesh guerrilla movement carried out a sabotage operation in Tula, destroying a communications tower near the Shcheglovsky Val JSC plant, a major hub of Russia’s military-industrial complex.
The plant manufactures Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile systems, develops guided weapons, and produces rapid-fire guns and small arms.
Its workshops also assemble Kornet ATGMs, combat vehicles for the Pantsir-S and Pantsir-S1 systems, and prototypes of advanced military equipment, including the Kurganets infantry fighting vehicle, Boomerang armored personnel carrier, and Armata tank.
“Earlier, we had already conducted reconnaissance of this facility, and the Ukrainian Defense Forces had successfully struck the plant. Now we are moving to more active actions and destroying the infrastructure of the enterprise – and this is just the beginning!” the guerrillas said in a Telegram statement.
Tula, located 300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, has been repeatedly targeted in drone strikes.
In January 2024, Ukrainian drones hit the facility, with reports of a “significant explosion and fire” in the district where the plant is located.
In May 2025, a UAV strike damaged one of Shcheglovsky Val’s workshops, breaking the roof and windows of a mechanical hall.
Russia claimed in July it intercepted 155 Ukrainian drones across several regions, including strikes near high-value military sites such as the Kronstadt drone factory near Moscow and three major defense plants in Tula, among them Shcheglovsky Val.