Ukrainian drones reach Perm, more than 1,400 km from the border: Ukrainian channels say the Avisma titanium plant was the target, five workers injured

Ukrainian drones hit an industrial plant in the north of Russia’s Perm region on the morning of Sunday, October 25, on the western fringe of the Urals and more than 1,400 kilometres from the Ukrainian-Russian border. Ukrainian monitoring channels identified the target as the Avisma chemical and metallurgical plant in Berezniki, a unit of VSMPO-AVISMA, the Russian titanium giant.

Five employees of the enterprise that was hit were injured, according to first information from Perm region governor Dmitry Makhonin. Three were taken to hospital for examination, one received outpatient care and one refused examination, and the condition of all is described as satisfactory. Makhonin also reported that air defence and mobile fire groups shot down 11 drones over the region, and that an industrial facility in the north suffered “minor damage” and is operating normally. Emergency services are working at the site.

The name of the plant came from the Ukrainian side. The Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ wrote that the target was Avisma in Berezniki, about 170 kilometres from the city of Perm. The Kyiv Independent wrote that the plant has been under US sanctions since 2023 and that its products end up in military aircraft, nuclear submarines, armoured vehicles and missile systems. Ukraine had not commented on the strikes in Perm and Lipetsk at the time of publication, the outlet wrote.

The company

The parent company presents itself as the world’s largest titanium producer, with a full production cycle from processing the raw material to finished, machined parts. It sells to 50 countries, is closely tied to the global aerospace industry and employs about 20,000 people. The Berezniki plant produces titanium sponge, magnesium metal and magnesium alloys. VSMPO-AVISMA is regarded as a key supplier to Russia’s defence industry.

The Russian Ministry of Defence reported that between 08:00 and 20:00 Moscow time on Sunday it shot down 38 Ukrainian unmanned aircraft over the Bryansk, Belgorod, Kursk, Oryol, Perm, Smolensk and Tver regions and over the Black Sea.

The same day, shortly after noon, Exilenova+ wrote that cruise missiles hit the Energiya plant in Yelets in the Lipetsk region, which makes batteries and accumulators for missile systems, aircraft and other military equipment. Lipetsk governor Igor Artamonov spoke of a strike on an “industrial zone” with one injured.

The strikes in the Urals and Yelets follow the hits on plants in Oryol and Tolyatti linked to Russian missile production. Ukraine’s General Staff also announced that on October 24 and overnight into October 25 it struck Russian radar stations near Gostishchevo and Kurganoye in the Belgorod region, a command post in Tarasivka in Zaporizhzhia and a command observation post in Khola Prystan in Kherson. Moscow, for its part, announced the downing of 808 Ukrainian drones in a single night, from the evening of Wednesday, October 21 to the morning of Thursday, October 22.