Massive Drone Barrage Hits Russia as Smoke Rises From One of Its Largest Explosives Plants

A large-scale drone attack struck Dzerzhinsk in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region overnight, with preliminary OSINT analysis indicating that a major plume of smoke rising over the city likely originated from the grounds of the Sverdlov defense-chemical plant, OSINT-community Exilenova+ reported on August 19.

Residents of Dzerzhinsk posted footage during the night showing numerous drones over the city and thick smoke rising after the attack.

Based on an analysis of photographs from the area, Russian media outlet Astra concluded that the source of the smoke was highly likely to be inside the Sverdlov explosives plant.

The facility is located roughly five kilometers, or about three miles, from an apartment building that was earlier reported damaged by a drone.

The Sverdlov plant is one of Dzerzhinsk’s major industrial enterprises and forms part of Russia’s military-industrial complex. With a history stretching back more than a century, it is also one of the country’s largest producers of explosives.

The plant is under sanctions imposed by Ukraine, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Switzerland, including for supporting activities that threaten Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Previously, Russia claimed that Ukraine has set another record for the scale of its drone attacks on Russia, with Moscow claiming that its air defenses shot down 1,671 UAVs in just 24 hours.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that air defenses intercepted more than 1,600 drones over the past day, along with 10 guided aerial bombs and two HIMARS rockets, Russian propaganda outlet Interfax reported.

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