Drones Hit One of Russia’s Largest Chemical Plants Overnight in Stavropol Region

Long-range drones reportedly targeted the Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant in Russia’s Stavropol region overnight on May 16, causing a fire at one of the country’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producers.

According to the Russian Telegram channel Astra on May 16, footage and photographs circulating online showed a fire burning on the territory of the Nevinnomyssk Azot facility in the city of Nevinnomyssk following a series of explosions reported around 2:30 a.m. local time.

Stavropol region governor Vladimir Vladimirov confirmed that drones had targeted the region overnight but claimed Russian air defenses repelled the attack and that there was “no destruction on the ground.”

Russian state agency TASS, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, reported that Russian forces allegedly intercepted 138 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions.

According to Astra, analysis of publicly available videos and images indicated that the fire originated within the industrial zone of the Nevinnomyssk Azot plant. Local residents cited by Russian monitoring channels reported hearing explosions during the attack and claimed they did not hear air defense systems operating during the strike.

Nevinnomyssk Azot, part of the EuroChem group, is considered one of Russia’s largest chemical enterprises and a major producer of ammonia, nitrogen fertilizers, nitric acid, and acetic acid. The facility is located roughly 400 kilometers from Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Between 2022 and 2024 the Nevinnomyssk Azot and Novomoskovsk Azot plants supplied at least 38,000 tons of acetic acid and nearly 5,000 tons of nitric acid to the Sverdlov Plant in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region. The chemicals were used in the production of military explosives, including HMX and RDX, for artillery ammunition.

The strike would mark at least the sixth reported drone attack on the facility, according to Astra. Previous attacks targeting the plant were reported in March and January 2026, as well as in August and December 2025.

Earlier, Ukrainian drones struck infrastructure at Russia’s “Tamanneftegaz” oil terminal in Krasnodar region, damaging a connecting overpass between berths at the port of Taman, according to Ukraine’s General Staff and OSINT group CyberBoroshno. The terminal is one of Russia’s major Black Sea export hubs for crude oil and fuel products.

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