Drones Set Fire to Russian Plant That Feeds Explosives Into Missile and Artillery Production

Drones struck the Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant in Russia’s Stavropol region overnight, with footage and images of a large fire at the facility shared online by the OSINT community Supernova+ on January 15.

The plant is located near the city of Nevinnomyssk and is one of the largest chemical production facilities in southern Russia. Videos circulating on social media show flames and thick smoke rising from the industrial site following the strike.

The facility has been repeatedly targeted over the past year. According to open-source reporting, Nevinnomyssk Azot was attacked at least four times in 2025—in June, July, August, and December.

After a June strike, the plant was temporarily suspended after a coordinated drone strike involving 13 unmanned aircraft.

Nevinnomyssk Azot plays a critical role in Russia’s defense-industrial supply chain. The plant is a regular supplier of chemical components to NPO Iskra, one of Russia’s largest machine-building enterprises involved in the development and production of solid-fuel rocket engines and related components for multiple missile systems.

In addition, the facility provides raw materials used in the production of high-powered explosives, including RDX (hexogen) and HMX (octogen), which are supplied to the Sverdlov Plant in Dzerzhinsk, in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region.

These explosives are widely used in the manufacture of artillery ammunition and missile warheads, making the Nevinnomyssk Azot plant a strategically significant node in Russia’s military-industrial infrastructure.

Earlier, a major Russian defense manufacturing facility in the city of Orsk, in the Orenburg region, was engulfed in flames.

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