Ukrainian strikes on Russia in October 2026: refineries, factories and combat aircraft

Russia’s armed forces need missiles, aircraft and drones. Producing them requires electronics, metals, fuel, batteries and chemical components. Manufacturers in these industries appeared repeatedly in reports of Ukrainian strikes throughout October.

The Kaluga Voskhod radio tube plant was hit on 3 October, followed by the Sasta machine tool plant in Sasovo on 8 October.

Overnight into 9 October, Ukrainian forces struck the Redkino Experimental Plant in Tver Oblast. It produces components for Decilin-M fuel used in Kh-55 and Kh-101 cruise missiles — the same types of missiles Russia fires at Ukrainian cities.

That night, Ukraine’s General Staff also confirmed strikes on two other missile-related facilities: a site belonging to the Barmin Research Institute of Launch Complexes near Dalneye Konstantinovo-5, and an intercontinental ballistic missile disposal centre near Surovatikha. Both are in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.

Reports recorded a strike on the Balakovo steel plant on 14 October. On 16 October, Ukraine’s Defence Forces hit a production and storage building at Roboavia in Rostov Oblast. The General Staff confirmed the operation the following day.

Towards the end of the month, reports of factories being hit arrived almost daily:

• 23 October — Proton / Proton-Elektroteks in Oryol and Azot in Berezniki.
• 24 October — Tolyattikauchuk and Omsk Kauchuk.
• 25 October — the Energia battery plant in Yelets and Avisma’s titanium production facility in Berezniki.
• 26 October — Voronezhsintezkauchuk.
• 28 October — Azot in Novomoskovsk.
• 29 October — Bashkir Soda Company in Sterlitamak.
• 31 October — the Kamensky plant, linked to solid rocket propellant production.

Restoring these facilities takes equipment, skilled workers and time. Damaged units must be repaired, components sourced and disrupted supplies replaced.

Russian oil refining remained a major focus of Ukrainian strikes. Demilitarizator’s October tally includes seven events in the oil refining and gas processing category.

The Volgograd refinery was hit on 2 October. Strikes were recorded at Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat in Bashkortostan and the Omsk refinery on 8 October. On 9 October, reports emerged of an attack and fire at the Ukhta refinery in the Komi Republic.

The Surgut condensate stabilisation plant was struck on 16 October. Omsk and Surgut are major industrial centres in Western Siberia, far from Ukraine’s border.

The month ended with recorded strikes on the Novokuibyshevsk refinery on 30 October and Bashneft-Novoil in Ufa on 31 October.

Separately, the General Staff reported the consequences of a strike on the Astrakhan gas processing plant on 4 October.

Russia can extract oil, but it still has to turn it into petrol, diesel and aviation fuel. Every damaged processing unit reduces capacity or forces production to shift elsewhere. Repairs, transport and the search for replacement equipment add to the burden.

Ukrainian operations also targeted infrastructure used to move crude oil and petroleum products.

The Samara line production and dispatch station near Prosvet was hit on 2 October. On 10 October, the General Staff confirmed a repeat strike on the site.

The station receives, stores and blends crude oil, including oil used to produce the Urals export blend. It is an important hub in Russia’s system for preparing crude for onward delivery.

The Volodarskaya station in Moscow Oblast was hit on 6 October, followed by Nikolskoye in Tambov Oblast on 20 October.

Another major event was the attack on the Petersburg Oil Terminal on 18 October. A fire was recorded at the complex. The terminal handles petroleum products and forms part of Russia’s Baltic oil infrastructure.

Such strikes create problems at several stages: producing fuel, delivering it to customers and shipping it abroad all become more difficult.

The October database records four airfield strike events: Khanskaya, Seshcha, Borisoglebsk and Marinovka.

Overnight into 4 October, Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, hit a Su-35 and a Su-34 at Khanskaya airfield in Adygea. It also reported a strike on an ammunition depot.

Seshcha airfield in Bryansk Oblast was hit during the period spanning 6 October and the night into 7 October.

Overnight into 15 October, Ukrainian forces attacked Borisoglebsk airfield in Voronezh Oblast. The General Staff confirmed that six Su-34 aircraft sustained varying degrees of damage.

Marinovka airfield in Volgograd Oblast was hit on 29 October. Ukraine reported that two Su-34s had been destroyed.

Russia regularly uses Su-34 aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine. A destroyed aircraft will not take off for another attack. A damaged one needs repairs, spare parts and time — during which it is also unavailable for combat missions.

A distinct category became prominent in Demilitarizator’s October statistics: data centres.

The sites hit were:

• 8 October — Yandex’s data centre in Sasovo.
• 9 October — Yandex’s data centre in Kaluga.
• 11 October — Yandex’s data centre in Vladimir.
• 14 October — Sberbank’s mega data centre in Balakovo.
• 18 October — a VK data centre in Leningrad Oblast.
• 23 October — the Federal Tax Service data centre in Gorodets and Lugacom’s data centre in occupied Luhansk.

Server complexes support digital platforms, businesses and government services. Damage to servers, network equipment or power systems can disrupt operations and require data and workloads to be moved to other sites.

A fire was also recorded at an Ozon logistics facility in St Petersburg on 18 October. The company’s fulfilment centre in Omsk was hit on 24 October.

Large warehouse complexes receive and dispatch substantial volumes of goods every day. A shutdown forces operators to reroute deliveries, delays cargo processing and puts extra pressure on other warehouses.

The 44 events are the website’s current editorial tally, not a complete official list of Ukrainian operations.

During October, Ukraine’s Defence Forces also struck Iskander repair infrastructure in Kursk Oblast, a railway bridge over the Unecha River, communications facilities in occupied territories and a repair facility at the 75th Arsenal in Serpukhov.

Towards the end of the month, the General Staff reported strikes on attack drone infrastructure near Navlya: a UAV warehouse, a drone launch site and fuel stocks. A strike on an Iskander launcher in Kursk Oblast was confirmed separately.

These operations were covered in the daily reports but are not included in the 44 entries above.

The strikes on strategic facilities came as Russia’s army suffered heavy losses at the front.

According to the monthly figures reported by Ukraine, Russian personnel losses in October totalled 54,400 killed and wounded.

The Unmanned Systems Forces grouping reported 64,807 targets hit during the month, including 16,796 Russian personnel killed and wounded. Its units carried out 255,605 combat missions. The grouping’s results form part of the overall results of Ukraine’s Defence Forces and are not added separately to the General Staff’s figure.

Russia has to replace battlefield losses, repair military equipment and restore factories in its own rear at the same time. That takes money, workers and equipment — resources the war is already consuming.

Putin expected to fight on Ukrainian territory. October showed again that Russian factories, airfields and oil infrastructure would also pay for this war. From Oryol to Omsk.