Three killed, five injured in blast at explosives plant in Russia’s Bashkortostan

Emergency services said they completed overnight search and rescue operations at the Sterlitamak plant

Reuters October 18, 2025 Less than a minute read

Firefighters extinguish oil tanks at a storage facility that local authorities say caught fire after the military brought down a Ukrainian drone, in the town of Klintsy in the Bryansk Region, Russia January 19, 2024, in this still image taken from video. PHOTO: REUTERS

Three people were killed and five injured in a blast at the Avangard explosives plant in the city of Sterlitamak, Bashkortostan region, regional governor Radiy Khabirov said on Saturday via his Telegram channel.

The explosion at the plant occurred on Friday evening.

Forensic experts are investigating the cause of the blast, Khabirov said, denying that it was caused by Ukrainian drone strikes.

The emergency services said on Saturday that they had completed search and rescue operations at the Sterlitamak plant, which had continued throughout the night.

The Avangard plant manufactures industrial explosives and dismantles ammunition.
Since 2022, the plant has been controlled by the Russian state industrial conglomerate Rostec.

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