Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
Deep in Russia’s Ural Mountains, a single plant underwrites almost the entire national titanium supply.
Long-range Ukrainian drones struck industrial sites in the Perm Krai region overnight on October 24-25. Perm Krai Governor Dmitry Makhonin said regional air defenses downed 11 drones and that an industrial facility in the north of the region had sustained “minor” damage, with five workers injured, the Kyiv Independent reported.
The Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ identified the target as the AVISMA chemical-metallurgical plant in Berezniki, more than 1,400 kilometers (about 870 miles) from the Ukrainian border, saying the strike hit the facility’s production grounds.
AVISMA is the core production site of VSMPO-AVISMA, Russia’s largest titanium producer. The company produced about 33,500 tonnes of titanium sponge in 2024, roughly 96% of Russia’s total output of the material, per U.S. Geological Survey data.
A single node under Russia’s warplanes
Titanium sponge from the plant goes into alloys used for Su-34 and Su-35 fighter jets, Iskander ballistic missiles, Tu-160 strategic bombers and components for Russia’s nuclear submarines, according to identifications by Ukrainian military intelligence.
Makhonin said the facility was continuing to operate normally. The extent of the damage inside AVISMA has not been independently verified.
Western aviation once leaned on the same supplier
VSMPO-AVISMA was for decades a backbone of Western commercial aerospace. Boeing said in November 2021 that the Russian producer would “remain the largest titanium supplier for current and future Boeing commercial airplanes,” with its titanium used on 737, 767, 777, 777X and 787 jets.
Boeing’s commercial airplanes chief Stan Deal called VSMPO-AVISMA “a reliable and valuable partner” of almost 25 years at the time of the signing.
Ukraine’s General Staff has not publicly claimed the AVISMA strike. The day before, on October 24, it confirmed Ukrainian drone strikes on the Proton-Electrotex electronics plant in Oryol Oblast and the Tolyattikauchuk chemical plant in Samara Oblast.
