Local authorities and Russian Telegram channels reported on this attack.
According to officials, three drones were shot down near the village of Kuzmino-Gat and the city of Kotovsk. Debris from the UAVs damaged the roof of a private house, but there were no casualties.
Residents informed Russian Mash and SHOT that they saw several drones, heard the air defense systems in action, and noticed flashes in the sky. In total, four explosions were heard.
The drones were headed towards a powder factory located near the village of Kuzmino-Gat, which, according to locals, was not harmed.
Overall, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that air defense forces destroyed 27 drones. Specifically, 15 drones were allegedly shot down over the Belgorod region, seven over Voronezh, three over Tambov, and two over Kursk.
It remains unclear whether the factory was hit. However, Andrey Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, wrote on the morning of January 16 that the Tambov Powder Factory has been attacked “more than once.”
According to him, the factory is one of the key sites in the Russian military-industrial complex. It produces gunpowder for various types of small arms, artillery, and rocket systems, as well as collodion, which is used in the production of explosives and other specialized products.
The enterprise is one of the main suppliers of explosive materials for the Russian army. Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, production at the factory has significantly increased.