'11 explosions recorded' — Ukrainian drones strike key Russian radio plant in Penza, SBU source says
Editor's note: The story was updated with a statement from an SBU source.
Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) drones struck a Russian radio electronics plant in the western city of Penza that manufactures military-grade equipment, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on July 31.
"At least 11 explosions were recorded" following a large-scale fire at the JSC Radiozavod plant, a sanctioned facility owned by the Russian state-owned Rostec defense corporation, the source claimed.
The statement comes after Russian officials and media reported mass Ukrainian strikes across multiple regions overnight on July 31, including against an industrial facility in Penza and energy infrastructure in Volgograd Oblast.
Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, said the Radiozavod plant specializes in equipment for mobile command units, automated combat control systems, and military-grade radio stations.
"It is a key enterprise of the Russian military-industrial complex," Kovalenko said.
According to the SBU source, the automated combat control systems produced at the facility are used across multiple Russian military branches, from air defenses to artillery.
"Preliminary reports indicate that the plant’s new production facility and warehouses with components were hit," the source said.
Without disclosing the nature of the facility, Penza Oblast Governor Oleg Melnichenko confirmed the attack, saying that a fire had occurred at an industrial plant.
"There is a fire at the plant, which is being extinguished," he said.
Two pro-government Russian Telegram channels, Shot and Baza, posted footage of the fire and reported widespread mobile service disruptions.
Melnichenko later acknowledged the outages, attributing them to "safety reasons," and said mobile internet restrictions were temporarily in place across the city.
Penza lies roughly 625 kilometers (388 miles) southeast of Moscow and about 600 kilometers (373 miles) from the nearest Ukraine-controlled territory.
Farther south, in Volgograd Oblast, regional officials confirmed that drones targeted transportation and energy infrastructure in Kotelnikovo and nearby districts.
Governor Andrei Bocharov said gas supplies to 65 homes were cut off, and train traffic was restricted near the Tinguta station in the Svitloyarsky district due to drone debris.
"A massive drone attack on transportation and energy facilities in the Volgograd Oblast has been repelled," he said. "To remove drone debris found on the railway tracks near Tinguta station in the Svetloyarsky district, train traffic has been temporarily restricted."
A video published by independent Russian outlet Astra shows a large fire burning at the site of the strike in Kotelnikovo. The Russian Telegram channel Shot reported that residents in the suburbs of Volgograd heard up to five explosions.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that air defenses shot down 31 Ukrainian drones over six regions, including 11 over Volgograd Oblast.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify all the claims.
The strikes come amid Ukraine's intensified campaign targeting Russian military, industrial, and logistical infrastructure deep inside Russia.
Kyiv has increasingly relied on long-range drones to disrupt Moscow's war effort and force resource redeployments far from the front lines.
The same night, Russia launched a mass aerial strike against Kyiv, collapsing a residential building while killing at least seven people and injuring dozens more.
