Ukraine claims strike on Russian rocket-fuel factory outside St. Petersburg

Ukraine's Armed Forces General Staff said Monday its forces struck the Morozov Plant Joint Stock Company near St. Petersburg, a site it says Russia uses to turn out rocket fuel, explosives and missile components. In a Telegram post, the General Staff called the facility one of the important links in the chain of Russian missile production. Kyiv framed the operation as self-defense, pointing to Article 51 of the UN Charter.

The plant sits in Leningrad oblast, the same region Russia's Defense Ministry says it was swatting drones out of the sky. The ministry said it downed 430 Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs between 8:00 pm Moscow time on November 8 and 8:00 am on November 9, over Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Oryol, Pskov, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, the Moscow region and Crimea. It did not say whether the Morozov plant was among the targets hit.

On the receiving end, Russian strikes killed three people and wounded one in Odesa, according to Serhiy Lysak, head of the city's military administration. Lysak initially reported a quiet night, then confirmed an infrastructure facility had been hit. One of the injured is in critical condition and receiving medical care.

Russia's Defense Ministry also claimed Ukrainian forces lost more than 535 soldiers in the past 24 hours, with its Center group of forces inflicting over 335 casualties and the East group more than 200, while reportedly improving tactical positions. It said air defenses intercepted two US-made HIMARS rockets and 680 Ukrainian drones, and that Geran drones struck a 330-kilovolt electrical substation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen about further EU assistance. He said Brussels had previously agreed to activate a special emergency mechanism to fund critical aid, and that the two coordinated positions ahead of Ukraine's trilateral meeting with Russia and the United States.