Ukraine reportedly has struck one of Russia‘s largest defense-linked chemical producers for the third time this year.
Ukrainian drones targeted “sites” in the city of Nevinnomyssk overnight on Dec. 4, according to Vladimir Vladimirov, governor of Russia’s Stavropol Krai.
“According to operational data, there are no casualties or damage. Emergency services are working at the debris impact sites,” Vladimirov wrote on Telegram, without specifying which facilities were hit.
The Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ reported that the Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant - part of EuroChem, Russia’s biggest fertilizer producer - was struck. Local residents counted at least six loud blasts.
It has already been hit twice this year, on June 14 and July 25. After the first strike, production was temporarily halted.
The plant produces ammonia, urea, melamine, ammonium nitrate, liquid nitrogen fertilizers, acetic acid, and vinyl acetate.
According to Reuters, Nevinnomyssk Azot and Novomoskovsky Azot shipped at least 38,000 tons of acetic acid and nearly 5,000 tons of nitric acid to the Sverdlov Plant in Dzerzhinsk between 2022 - 2024. These chemicals are used to produce HMX and RDX - key components in artillery shells.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, called Nevinnomyssk Azot a “critical element” of Russia’s military-industrial complex.
He said the plant produces up to 1 million tons of ammonia and over 1 million tons of ammonium nitrate annually, both used in explosives and artillery shells. Melamine, acetic acid, methanol, and potassium nitrate from the plant are also used in high-explosive munitions and RPGs.
Around 2 a.m. Kyiv time, Russia’s SHOT channel reported about 10 explosions over the city of Oryol within 30 minutes. “The windows almost blew out from the loud noises,” residents wrote.
A video circulating on social media reportedly shows one of the blasts, but the target remains unclear.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses “destroyed” 76 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones overnight, including 14 over Stavropol Krai and two over Oryol Oblast.
Ukraine has not commented on its involvement.
Two oil depots in Russia’s Tambov and Voronezh regions were hit in overnight Ukrainian drone strikes early on Dec. 3, regional authorities reported.
Tambov governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said a fire broke out at an oil depot after debris from a “Kyiv-regime drone” fell on the site. He did not specify casualties or name the facility.
The Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilnova+ identified the target as the Nikiforovskaya oil depot in the village of Dmitrievka, which has 14 diesel-fuel storage tanks and belongs to Rosneft.
In the Voronezh region, Governor Alexander Gusev said a downed UAV caused minor damage to several fuel tanks at another depot but did not trigger a fire. No casualties were reported.
Ukraine’s General Staff later confirmed that its forces struck the Dmitrievska depot, saying several tanks caught fire and the damage was still being assessed. It also confirmed the Dec. 2 destruction of the Livny oil depot in Russia’s Oryol region, where two RV-5000 tanks burned after a drone strike.