Ukrainian drones strike targets in Russia, including gunpowder plant, General Staff says
Ukrainian drones struck multiple military targets in Russia, including the Tambov Gunpowder Plant, overnight on June 11, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported.
The plant, one of Russia's main manufacturers of gunpowder and explosives for small arms, artillery, and rocket systems, caught fire following the drone strike, according to the General Staff.
Local residents reported hearing explosions and shared videos showing a large blaze near the facility, according to the Russian independent media outlet Astra.
The General Staff described the attack as part of a broader operation to degrade Russia's ability to produce explosive materials and ammunition used in the full-scale war against Ukraine.
The Tambov facility has been targeted several times since November 2023, and U.S. sanctions were imposed on it that same year. Tambov Oblast, located southeast of Moscow, lies hundreds of kilometers from Ukraine and shares no direct border with it.
Russian state news agency TASS confirmed a drone attack but did not mention the strike on the powder plant. Tambov Oblast Governor Maxim Egorov said that emergency services had extinguished the fire and that there were no casualties, though he did not specify the location of the fire.
In addition to the strike on Tambov, Ukrainian drones hit the ammunition depot of Russia's 106th Airborne Division in Kursk Oblast and the depot at Buturlinovka airfield in Voronezh Oblast, the General Staff said.
The extent of the damage is still being assessed, the General Staff said.
"The Defense Forces continue to take all measures to undermine the military and economic potential of the Russian occupiers and force Russia to stop its armed aggression against Ukraine," the statement reads.
Ukraine has ramped up long-range drone strikes in recent weeks, targeting Russian air bases and arms production facilities in an effort to disrupt Moscow's war machine ahead of an anticipated Russian summer offensive.
Asami Terajima
