A source in Ukraine's SBU security service told Newsweek that drones belonging to the agency, as well as Kyiv's special operations forces and its GUR military intelligence arm, "struck the Sverdlov plant" in the city of Dzerzhinsk overnight, just west of the regional capital in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region.
Nizhny Novgorod Regional Governor Gleb Nikitin said on Sunday that air defenses and electronic warfare systems had repelled a drone attack around the "industrial zone" in Dzerzhinsk. He did not specify the target of the attack.
Several Russian Telegram channels, often used as sources of information in lieu of official statements, reported that Ukraine had targeted the Sverdlov explosives, chemicals and ammunition factory in Dzerzhinsk. The large, state-owned facility is under sanctions by the U.S. government and the European Union.
The Sverdlov plant is around 900 kilometers, or around 560 miles, from the Ukrainian border, the source said. Russia makes explosives, shells, missile warheads and aircraft-launched bombs like the highly destructive KAB glide bombs that have pummeled Ukraine for months, the source added.