Russia's Largest Defense Enterprise Halted Operations
- 20.06.2025, 19:03
The AFU attacked twice in three days a factory developing high-precision weapons in Tula.
As a result of several attacks by Ukrainian drones, one of Russia's largest defense enterprises developing high-precision weapons, JSC Shipunov Instrument Design Bureau (KBP) in Tula has stopped work. This was reported by sources Astra in the region's emergency services.
The first raid, which involved five AFU drones, took place on Wednesday, June 18. The strikes damaged the building of an electric substation, three warehouses with products and an administrative building. The complex was engulfed by a fire that spread to 400 square meters. The second attack was carried out by Ukrainian forces on the night of Friday, June 20. One of the launched UAVs hit the hangar for loading finished products - there, according to the sources, the roof and walls were damaged. As a result, the work of the enterprise was stopped.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported in a morning bulletin about the destruction of three Ukrainian drones in the Tula region last night. Three UAVs were also shot down on June 18, according to the ministry, and two more on Thursday morning.
The head of the region, Dmitry Milyaev, also reported Ukrainian attacks on the Tula region on June 18 and 20. According to his data, air defense forces shot down six AFU drones on those days. "According to preliminary data, no damage to buildings and infrastructure has been recorded, no casualties," he wrote in his Telegram channel on Friday.
According to open sources, the attacked enterprise is a design and development bureau that creates precision guided weapons for ground forces, the Navy and the Armed Forces, air defense systems, high-speed guns and combat small arms, as well as products for civilian use. KBP is part of Rostec, being one of the enterprises of the holding company NPO High-Precision Complexes.
In the summer of 2014, it was included in the U.S. export sanctions list. In February 2020, the enterprise was also placed on the U.S. blocking sanctions list. In December 2023, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, KBP was added to the EU sanctions list.
On the night of May 7, the AFU drones carried out a series of strikes in the Tula region, after one of which a heavy fire broke out in the area of Shcheglovskaya Zaseka Street in Tula, where Shipunov KBP is located. The same place is home to NPO Splav, Russia's leading enterprise for the development and production of multiple rocket launchers (MLRS), heavy flamethrower systems (HFS), ammunition for them, and aircraft missiles. It is not yet clear which of the two facilities was hit.