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    401 May-Jun 2026

    22 April 2026

    Drone strikes hit Russian nitrogen plants

    Written by Richard Hands

    Ukrainian drones struck a chemical plant at Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast, on 13 April, with videos circulating on social media platform Telegram appearing to show columns of smoke rising from the Cherepovets-Azot facility, part of Russia’s PhosAgro holding. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, 13 drones were shot down on approach to the industrial site, with emergency services deployed to locations where debris fell, governor Georgy Filimonov said in a Telegram post.

    OSINT group CyberBoroshno reported a strike on two of the plant’s three ammonia plants, which have a combined capacity of 900,000 t/a, with a possible hit on an ammonia storage facility also reported. The affected plants account for around 6% of Russia’s ammonia production, while the facility as a whole represents approximately 10% of national output, according to CyberBoroshno. The operational status of the facility could not be confirmed at the time of writing. The Cherepovets site was also struck in a drone attack on 27 March 2026. The attack follows a pattern of drone strikes on Russian chemical infrastructure.

    Meanwhile, drones struck the Minudobrenia chemical plant in Rossosh on 6 April 2026, setting fire to the roof of a finished goods warehouse, according to reports from independent Russian media outlet Astra and the Kyiv Independent. The attack was confirmed by Voronezh Oblast Governor Alexander Gusev, who reported that six drones were intercepted over the region. The Minudobrenia facility is one of the largest chemical plants in Voronezh Oblast and is managed by Roskhim. The facility has a total AN capacity of 520,000 t/a, with production running above nameplate capacity at a utilisation rate of 125.3%, equivalent to approximately 600,000 t/a of AN output annually between 2023 and 2026. Ammonia capacity at the site is 1.0 million t/a. The plant was previously struck by Ukrainian drones on 13 December 2025.

    Other Ukrainian drone attacks hit chemical plants in Togliatti, Tolyattikauchuk and KuibyshevAzot on April 4th, part of an extended campaign of Ukrainian attacks on oil, gas, chemical and petrochemical facilities.

    Pic: The Cherepovets-Azot facility. Ronesans Endustri.

    Richard Hands

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