Ukraine says it struck Russian ammunition plant, oil terminal and
weapons depot
[October 07, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Long-range Ukrainian drones and missiles hit a
major Russian ammunition plant, a key oil terminal and an important
weapons depot behind the front line, Ukraine's president and military
said Monday, as Kyiv cranked up pressure on Moscow’s military logistics.
The Sverdlov ammunition plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region of western
Russia was struck overnight, causing multiple explosions and a fire, the
Ukrainian General Staff said. The plant supplies Russian forces with
aviation and artillery ordnance, aviation bombs and anti-aircraft and
anti-tank munitions, it said.
Ukraine also hit an oil terminal on the Russia-annexed Crimean
Peninsula, starting a blaze, and an ammunition depot of Russia’s 18th
Combined Arms Army, the General Staff said.
Russian authorities acknowledged a major Ukrainian drone attack over 14
regions, as well as Crimea and around the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
But they gave few details beyond saying that air defenses shot down 251
Ukrainian drones — making it one of the biggest Ukrainian barrages of
Russian territory since the war began on Feb. 24, 2022.
Gleb Nikitin, the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, said that air
defenses fended off an attack by 20 Ukrainian drones on a local
industrial zone that includes the ammo plant and that no facilities were
damaged.
Ukraine’s long-range attacks on refineries and other oil facilities
contributed to Russian fuel shortages at the pump in August.
Weapons productions
Improving domestically produced weapons, especially drones, has been one
of Ukrainian authorities’ chief goals as it strives to counter Moscow's
invasion and reach deeper into Russia with strikes that put military,
political and social pressure on President Vladimir Putin.
Though Russia’s national economy and army are much bigger than those of
Ukraine, Kyiv has largely limited Russian battlefield gains to slow and
costly progress across the Ukrainian countryside as cutting-edge drone
technology makes up in part for its shortage of soldiers.
Uncertain of what Western military support it can count on, Ukraine has
swiftly developed its defense manufacturing capacity. It's already
sharing its drone expertise with European countries and is discussing
possible technology and production cooperation with the United States.
Ukrainian officials have suggested they would like Washington to supply
Tomahawk cruise missiles so that more Russian assets in the rear can be
targeted. Meanwhile, Ukraine is increasingly using domestically
developed long-range drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
said Monday, and Ukraine expects to expand such capabilities, if it can
ensure funding from abroad.
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In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense
Ministry Press Service on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, a Russian sniper
fires towards Ukrainian forces from an undisclosed location.
(Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
He also indicated that Ukraine had used its own missiles for the
strikes on Russian soil.
“The main thing to understand is that in recent days Ukraine has
used exclusively Ukrainian-made weapons, not only drones,” Zelenskyy
said during a news conference with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof
in Kyiv.
“We expect greater capabilities, but they depend on financial
resources,” he said.
Ukraine's defense industry
Ukraine’s mushrooming defense industry could begin exporting surplus
weapons production by the end of this year, using the revenue to
help buy sophisticated systems it can’t make itself, Zelenskyy said
Monday.
By the end of this year, Ukraine hopes to provide at least half the
weapons its troops need on the front line, Zelenskyy told a defense
industry forum in Kyiv.
“Already at the front, more than 40% of the weapons used are weapons
produced in Ukraine or with Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a speech.
Last year, Ukraine produced and delivered 2.4 million shells to the
front line, according to the Ukrainian leader.
Ukraine is currently producing 40 Bohdana self-propelled artillery
systems a month, Zelenskyy said. By comparison, the production rate
in April 2024 stood at 10 units per month.
“The time has come to launch the export of our Ukrainian weapons —
those types of weapons that we have in surplus, and therefore can be
exported, so that there is funding for those types of weapons that
are especially needed for defense,” Zelenskyy said in a speech,
possibly referring to American-made Patriot air defense systems.
He said that Ukraine already has agreements to start exports to
Europe, the United States and the Middle East, and purchases could
begin by the end of this year.
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Hanna Arhirova contributed to this report.
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