“Massive combined” attack, with Storm Shadow missiles, claimed by Kyiv. The target hit, a “key facility” of Russia's military-industrial complex

Ukrainian forces launched a large-scale Storm Shadow missile attack on Russia on Tuesday, October 21, hitting the chemical plant in Bryansk, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced.

“A massive combined attack was launched with missiles and aerial bombardment, including air-launched Storm Shadow missiles, which successfully penetrated the Russian air defense system,” Ukrainian military leadership said, as quoted by The Kyiv Independent.

The operation was carried out jointly by the Air Force of Ukraine, in coordination with the Navy, Ground Forces and other military units.

The attack hit the Chemical Plant in Bryansk, in the Russian region of the same name, the Ukrainian General Staff said. The consequences of the attack are still being assessed.

The Kyiv-based publication notes that it could not independently verify this announcement by the leadership of the Ukrainian military at the time of publishing the information.

The Briansk Chemical Plant produces gunpowder, explosives and components for rocket fuel, which Russia uses in the ammunition and missiles launched at Ukraine. The General Staff described the factory as a “key facility” of Russia's military-industrial complex.

The factory has been the target of previous attacks by Kiev, some of which involved, according to media reports, the use of long-range ATACMS missiles.

UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles have a range of between 250 and 560 kilometers (155-349 miles), depending on their version. Equipped with advanced navigation systems, they are designed to fly at high speed, close to the ground.

Ukraine has also used Storm Shadow missiles in the past to strike targets in Russia's Briansk and Kursk regions, as well as the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed back in 2014.

The latest such attack came on the same day that President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine's long-range attacks on Russia “may hold the indispensable key to peace”.

Zelenski had hoped to secure a promise to supply long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine during his meeting last Friday with US President Donald Trump. Instead, Trump announced that he wants to avoid escalating the conflict with Russia and plans to hold a bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

But plans for negotiations between the US and Russia seem rather remote. US officials said on Monday, on the condition of anonymity, that currently the details for a meeting between Putin and Trump in the near future have not been determined.

“Russia continues to do everything possible to dodge diplomacy – and as soon as the issue of long-range capabilities for us – for Ukraine – became less urgent, Russia's interest in diplomacy almost automatically disappeared,” Zelenskiy charged earlier on Monday.

“This signals that this very issue – the issue of our deep strike capabilities – may hold the indispensable key to peace,” the Kiev leader added.