Independent Russian media outlet Astra reported on Oct. 26 that the Voronezhsintezkauchuk plant, owned by Sibur, Russia's largest petrochemical company, was likely hit in the attack, citing videos taken by local residents showing black smoke rising over the facility. The plant produces more than 385,000 metric tons of synthetic rubbers and thermoplastic elastomers a year, including materials used to manufacture tyres for military aircraft and heavy wheeled vehicles, Astra said. Neither Ukrainian nor Russian officials have confirmed the attack on the plant. Ukrainian defence company Fire Point claimed its FP-1 deep-strike drones were used in the strike; the Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claim and noted that verifying attacks inside Russia has become difficult due to Moscow's digital censorship.
Voronezh Oblast Governor Alexander Gusev said two people were killed and 17 injured, including a child, and that many of the wounded, two of them in a serious condition, were passengers on a commuter train in the city's left-bank suburbs when debris from a downed drone fell on it. He described the attack as a "terrorist attack" and said fires broke out at a business centre, an apartment building, a school stadium and a garage cooperative, as well as at industrial sites, which he said were not seriously damaged. Gusev said air defences had downed 113 drones over the city and surrounding districts, more than 70 of them heading toward the regional capital. Several faculties at Voronezh State University have temporarily moved classes online.
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 140 drones and four missiles overnight, of which Ukrainian defences shot down 112 drones and three missiles. Russian strikes were also reported in Zaporizhzhia, where four people were injured, in the Chernihiv region, where two people were wounded, a hangar was hit and a fire was reported at a grain storage facility, and on Izium, where three people were injured. Emergency power cuts were introduced in the Khmelnytskyi region after a strike damaged an energy infrastructure facility.
The attack comes days after Moscow agreed to return to three-way negotiations with Ukraine and the United States, due to take place in Abu Dhabi in November, according to Moscow. Speaking to Ukrainian television on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the trilateral meeting would go ahead next month. "We are ready to talk," he said. "If it's a territorial issue, it must be addressed at a leadership level. Other issues fall within the remit of the technical groups." Direct talks held in 2025 failed to produce a settlement and have been frozen since the start of this year. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow agreed to a localised ceasefire around Oleshky, a heavily damaged Russian-occupied town in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, brokered by US first lady Melania Trump. Ukraine has intensified long-range strikes inside Russia since the summer, hitting oil refineries, military-industrial plants and airfields; Kyiv's General Staff previously reported striking the Voronezh plant in September, saying it was involved in producing solid rocket propellant for Iskander ballistic missiles.