Ukraine indicated on Sunday October 20 that it had targeted a major Russian explosives factory located some 750 kilometers from the border with attack drones during the night.
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Drones Ukrainian struck the Sverdlov explosives factory in Dzerzhinsk, just outside the Russian city of Nizhni-Novgorod, a source from the SBU security services told AFP. Russian authorities confirmed that drones targeted the area, but said the attack was foiled. “ Air defense and electronic warfare equipment repelled a drone attack on the territory of the Dzerzhinsk industrial zone », Declared on Telegram, Gleb Nikitin, governor of the Nizhni-Novgorod region.
Strong explosion
“ Four employees of the fire station, located on the territory of the industrial enterprise, were slightly injured by shrapnel from falling debris “, he added. The United States and the European Union have sanctioned the Sverdlov factory, one of Russia’s largest manufacturers of military explosives. Images posted on Russian social media show a large explosion in the area and small drones shot down by air defense systems. AFP was not immediately able to verify these images.
kyiv did not specify the possible damage of the attack on the factory’s production capacities. Previously, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight over several regions, including one over Moscow. Ukrainian forces regularly launch drone attacks inside Russian territory, seeking to strike energy and military sites that kyiv says are critical to supplying Moscow’s invading army.
Attacks on energy sites
Russia has also launched night airstrikes against Ukraine. According to kyiv, these attacks targeted residential areas and injured 17 people in Kryvyï Rig, while damaging buildings and cars. Russia also attacked an energy installation in the Sumy region, in the northeast of the country, the regional electricity operator said on Telegram, which reported “ more than 37,000 consumers » temporarily deprived of electricity. kyiv is preparing to face the harshest winter of the war, with Moscow having destroyed entire sections of its production capacity and continuing to strike energy sites.
In previous winters, millions of people were plunged into frequent power outages and left without heat in subzero temperatures. In Russiaaviation authorities announced they had temporarily closed Kazan airport, about 1,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, on Sunday morning, citing air security concerns. The Rosaviatsia agency did not specify the reason for the suspension of flights, but such restrictions are usually imposed when Ukrainian drone attacks are reported.
The Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to meet the leaders of China, Brazil and Turkey in the same city later this week for the summit of Bricsthe largest gathering of Moscow’s allies and partners inside the country since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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