Ukraine strike on Russian chip plant sparks revolt among pro-war bloggers

Satellite images confirm heavy damage to the Kremniy El plant after Storm Shadow strikes (Photo: CyberBoroshno)

Ukraine’s March 10 strike on the Kremniy El plant in Bryansk — a critical microchip manufacturer — triggered a sharp reaction in Russia, exposing divisions between state propaganda and pro-war commentators, the Institute for the Study of War said in its March 11 report.

While Russian state media sought to downplay the significance of the attack, pro-war voices sharply criticized those attempts.

According to an official statement from the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, the plant was struck with Storm Shadow cruise missiles, causing significant damage to its production facilities.

The Raid 413th Separate Unmanned Systems Battalion said the operation marked the first time Ukrainian forces struck a strategic facility within Russia’s defense-industrial complex while using a drone to correct missile strikes in real time. This allowed Ukraine’s Defense Forces to carry out an effective strike with a relatively small number of missiles.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian OSINT channel CyberBoroshno analyzed satellite imagery taken after the strike and confirmed that five missiles hit Building No. 4.

“Given the scale of the damage, restoring the workshop without full reconstruction is unlikely, which effectively means the facility has been put out of operation,” CyberBoroshno analysts said.

ISW noted that the Kremniy El plant previously claimed it ranked “second in Russia in the production of microelectronics for the Russian Defense Ministry.”

The plant supplied products to Russia’s state defense conglomerate Almaz-Antey, which produces air defense systems, and to the state corporation Tactical Missiles Corporation. The latter manufactures cruise missiles including the Kh-59, Kh-69, Kh-101 and Kh-555, which Russia uses to strike Ukraine.

ISW analysts said the Kremlin attempted to minimize the significance of Ukraine’s strike on the Kremniy El plant.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed on March 11 that the attack allegedly targeted civilians and asserted that Ukraine could not carry out such strikes without intelligence sharing from the United Kingdom and other NATO countries. The ministry also portrayed the attack as an attempt by Britain and other Western states to derail trilateral negotiations between the United States, Ukraine and Russia.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, and other officials and State Duma deputies repeated the ministry’s claims about British involvement.

ISW said these accusations — and the attempt to frame the strike as an attack on civilians — appear aimed at downplaying Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities and diverting attention from Russia’s unwillingness to compromise in the peace process, including by accusing Britain of sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

However, the Kremlin’s attempts to distort and minimize information about the strike triggered backlash among Russian ultranationalist milbloggers and pro-war Telegram channels.

Russian milbloggers rejected the contradictory efforts by state propaganda and officials to diminish the strike’s importance and criticized Russia’s Defense Ministry for failing to protect one of the largest and most important facilities in the country’s defense-industrial complex.

Some milbloggers also criticized Russia’s weak air defense and electronic warfare capabilities, noting that “no one has asked” how many missiles Russia managed to intercept.

ISW interprets such remarks as criticism of Russian authorities for failing to provide transparent reporting on the Ukrainian strike and on the performance of Russia’s air defense systems.

Russian milbloggers stressed that the plant was a key producer of high-frequency transistors needed for Russian military communications systems, as well as devices and electronic warfare components used in intercontinental ballistic missile systems such as Yars, Bulava and Topol-M.

Pro-war channels also speculated that Russia may struggle to replace the “specialists” reportedly killed during the strike.

In addition, milbloggers complained about shortages of Russian missiles, insufficient electronic warfare capabilities, Russia’s inability to disable Ukrainian airfields from which Storm Shadow-equipped aircraft operate, and difficulties restoring damaged air defense systems because of sanctions.