Late on the evening of January 4, Ukraine attacked Lipetsk region with drones. Debris from one of the drones fell in an industrial zone of the city of Yelets and caused a fire, Lipetsk Governor Igor Artamonov reported. By around 1 a.m., the fire was contained; preliminarily, no one was injured, the official added, without disclosing details about the targeted facility.
The attack hit PJSC Energia — the largest battery manufacturer in Russia, producing batteries for drones and missiles, as well as for aviation and naval use, according to Astra and Ukrainian monitoring channels.
Supernova+ reported that “one of the military production workshops is on fire.” The extent of the damage is not yet fully known.
The Yelets plant had previously been targeted by Ukrainian drones twice in July 2025. Prior to that, Energia was struck by a drone attack on the night of May 23, which ignited one of the workshops and injured nine factory workers.
The key products of Yelets’ Energia are chemical power sources. The devices produced by the plant are used across several sectors, including the defense industry, civil aviation, maritime transport, and the energy sector.
