Largest mining and processing plant in Russia comes under Ukrainian drone attack
On the night of April 11, in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, the Mikhailovsky Mining and Processing Plant (MMPP) was reportedly targeted by drones. Local social media users have posted eyewitness videos of the incident and the regional governor, Roman Starovoyt, has reported on the event on his Telegram channel.
Residents of Fatezhsky district and the city of Zheleznogorsk have posted online suggesting that the plant was attacked by unmanned aerial vehicles. Governor Starovoyt claims that supposedly three UAVs were downed, but he only mentioned the attack on the processing plant in terms of damage to employees' cars in the personal transport parking area near the facility.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has specified that on the night of April 11, it allegedly destroyed 12 Ukrainian drones over six regions of Russia.
The Mikhailovsky Mining and Processing Plant is one of the largest enterprises for the extraction and enrichment of iron ore in the post-Soviet space.
Since April 2023, the plant, as well as the Metalloinvest holding company, have been included in sanction lists, along with Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who is associated with these companies. The sanctions were imposed in response to their role in financing Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
In early March 2024, a fire occurred at the MMPP, for which Russian authorities blamed Ukraine.
Ukrainian intelligence reports that Defense Forces have recently damaged 12 Russian oil refineries using UAVs. According to British intelligence, this has resulted in 10% of Russian refinery production capacity being knocked out, while NATO believes that Ukraine has hit over 15% of the capacity of these facilities. At the same time, fuel production, including gasoline and diesel, has fallen by 12% in Russia.
The US leadership, including the Pentagon, has urged Ukraine not to attack Russian oil refineries, labeling these facilities "civilian targets." Simultaneously, Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis reminded allies of World War II and legitimate targets in Nazi Germany.
Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries led Russia to ask Kazakhstan to create an "emergency reserve" of 100,000 tons of gasoline.