The Defence Forces attacked the AVISMA chemical and metallurgical plant in the city of Berezniki in Russia’s Perm Krai. The enterprise is the largest producer of titanium sponge in the Russian Federation, which is used to make titanium alloys for aviation and missile production.
Footage of the attack was published by the Exilenova+ Telegram channel. Local authorities confirmed the attack.
Perm Krai Governor Dmitry Makhonin said Russian air defences shot down 11 drones, and an unnamed industrial facility in the north of the region sustained “minor damage”. According to preliminary information, five employees of the enterprise may have been injured.
The enterprise is part of the VSMPO-AVISMA corporation, one of the world’s largest titanium producers with a full production cycle. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), in 2024 the corporation produced about 33.5 thousand tonnes of titanium sponge, accounting for roughly 96% of its output in Russia.
Until 2021, the corporation exported around 70% of its titanium products. Its customers included Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Rolls-Royce and Safran.
Titanium and its alloys are used in the manufacture of aircraft structures and engines because of their properties, including strength and resistance to high temperatures.
One of the corporation’s major customers in the missile sector is the Votkinsk Plant, which produces ballistic missiles for the Iskander systems, as well as the Yars and Topol-M intercontinental missiles. The use of titanium raw materials linked to the corporation in the production of Kalibr cruise missiles has also been reported.
In the aviation sector, VSMPO-AVISMA products are used by the companies Sukhoi and Irkut, which manufacture the Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35S combat aircraft. The corporation also supplies materials to enterprises that build and modernise the Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers and the Tu-22M3 long-range bombers.
Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence Directorate has also recorded the involvement of the corporation’s titanium products in the production of Su-34 bombers and Su-35S fighter jets.