Overnight into Oct. 29, Ukrainian drones attacked Russia’s Bashkortostan, hitting the Bashkir Soda Company in Sterlitamak. The strike was reported by the Ukrainian monitoring channel Supernova+ and the independent outlet Astra, which confirmed that smoke rose over the Bashkir Soda Company as a result of the attack. Sterlitamak Mayor Emil Shaymardanov wrote on his Telegram channel that drone debris fell on the territory of one of the city’s enterprises, but assured residents that all the drones had been shot down:
“Another drone attack on Sterlitamak has been repelled. Forces of the Defense Ministry and the Combat Army Reserve shot down all 8 drones. Debris fell on the territory of one of the enterprises. Minor damage was caused, and the plant is operating normally.”
Using NASA FIRMS thermal anomaly maps, The Insider confirmed a fire at the Bashkir Soda Company — one of Russia’s largest chemical enterprises — which supplies products to the defense sector, among other customers.
Bashkir Soda Company JSC was founded in May 2013 through the merger of two large enterprises, Soda and Kaustik, and is part of the chemical holding Roskhim JSC. The company ranks first in Russia in the production of soda ash and baking soda. In addition, its website openly states that it supplies products to Russia’s military-industrial complex. In particular, the plant produces hydrochloric acid and dichloroethane, as well as terephthaloyl chloride, a unique component used in making ultra-strong materials (cables for parachute lines, space and aviation equipment, and other military products). According to the company’s website, it is the only enterprise in Russia that manufactures terephthaloyl chloride.
As Astra notes, Ukrainian drones had already attacked the Bashkir Soda Company on Aug. 27.
The Moscow Region was also subjected to a massive drone attack on the night of Oct. 28-29. According to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, 613 drones flew toward Moscow and Moscow Region, of which 231 were destroyed on approach to the city. As the outlet Kommersant noted, Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports suspended arrivals and departures during the night. In addition, airports in Kaluga, Penza, Saratov, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Cheboksary, Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Bugulma, Cherepovets, Kirov, Ufa, Orenburg, Izhevsk, and Perm suspended operations.
