Eight UAV strikes recorded on key Russian metallurgical hub photo / video

An overnight drone attack targeted the industrial zone of Cherepovets on March 27, according to Vologda region governor Georgy Filimonov, with one of the strikes reportedly affecting facilities linked to the steel producer Severstal.

Filimonov said emergency services were deployed to the areas where debris from the unmanned aerial vehicles fell. Authorities recorded a total of eight impacts, but reported no casualties and no damage to critical infrastructure.

Independent OSINT analysis by ASTRA suggests that one of the drones likely hit a blast furnace shop at the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant, operated by Severstal. Footage recorded by a witness from Bardin Street—around two kilometres from the site of the fire—captured the aftermath of the incident.

The Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant (CherMK, PJSC Severstal) is the second-largest steelmaking facility in Russia, producing coke, sinter, pig iron, steel, as well as flat and long rolled products. The company and its owner, billionaire Alexey Mordashov, are under sanctions imposed by Ukraine, the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Severstal has previously been targeted, including in March 2024, when blast furnace No. 5, known as “Severyanka,” was temporarily taken offline for major repairs.

Residents also reported that JSC Apatit, part of the PhosAgro group’s chemical cluster in Cherepovets, may have been targeted during the same night. The facility is Europe’s largest producer of phosphorus-based fertilisers, as well as phosphoric and sulfuric acids, and is among Russia’s leading producers of NPK fertilisers. Its products are supplied to export markets in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, and are also used in the production of ammunition, equipment, and other military hardware for the Russian army.

By Tamilla Hasanova