Ukraine says it hit a Russian rocket-fuel plant in Rostov region; drones cause "significant damage" near Nizhny Novgorod

Ukraine’s military said on 31 October that it had struck the Russian state-owned Kamensky chemical and defence plant in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov region, using drones and Neptune missiles, DW and RFE/RL report.

Ukraine’s account

• A fire at a finished-products warehouse was confirmed and four production workshops were damaged, according to the Ukrainian military.
• It says the plant makes solid rocket propellant for ammunition used by Russia’s Uragan, Smerch and Tornado-S multiple-launch rocket systems and other missiles.
• Kyiv also reported strikes on four Russian military supply depots in occupied parts of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk regions.

These claims have not been independently verified.

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin reported a “massive drone attack” overnight, saying more than 100 drones were destroyed and that an industrial facility suffered “significant damage”, with no casualties according to preliminary information. He did not name the facility; Ukrainian media said the target was the Kstovo oil refinery, one of Russia’s largest. This also could not be independently verified.

No pause on refineries

The Wall Street Journal reported on 29 October, citing people familiar with the matter, that Ukraine had agreed to pause strikes on Russian refineries until after the US midterm elections. Ukrainian officials told The Kyiv Independent that US envoy Jared Kushner had suggested a pause but that Kyiv never agreed to it; drones hit the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in Samara region less than 24 hours after the report.