Windows cracked in buildings around the Avangard plant that October 17 evening, and a smell of gunpowder hung over Sterlitamak for hours. Residents of the Bashkortostan city saw thick smoke climb above the industrial zone, visible from far away.
The blast tore through one workshop. Regional head Radiy Khabirov wrote on Telegram that the cause was still being worked out and that the workshop building had been badly damaged. Fire crews, rescuers and police sealed off the area and went in after workers trapped inside.
The first count from the scene was eight injured. Three were hauled out of the rubble and driven to a Sterlitamak hospital, one of them in serious condition in intensive care and the other two in a moderate state. The remaining five needed only minor care. Authorities said everyone left in the affected building was evacuated.
Three dead
By the next day the toll was clearer, and worse. Khabirov said three people had died. One of the women killed was just 23; the other two victims left children behind. Five people remained in hospital, two of them in fairly serious condition, the rest moderate, and he assured the public that their lives were no longer in danger and that they would be patched up and back on their feet. Rescue and search work at the plant had finished by then.
Some social media posts claimed drones had hit the factory. Khabirov rejected that. Investigators were still examining the site, he said. He also promised that the plant would support the families of the dead and pay compensation.
An old plant with a state job
Avangard makes explosives and ammunition, recycles explosive material and produces chemical goods, and it is tied to state defense orders. It belongs to the Rostec state corporation, was founded in 1941 around evacuated equipment, and came under EU sanctions in 2024. Its first output, in February 1943, was powder charges for the Katyusha rocket launchers.
It has had deadly accidents before. In August 2024 a blast in one of its rooms killed three workers. Khabirov himself conceded the factory is old and that a large volume of construction work lies ahead, and said the region was ready to help it find contractors. The plant is doing a job the state needs, he argued, so production would carry on. One building was destroyed in the explosion.
Sources
- Night of terror in Bashkortostan: massive blast rips through Sterlitamak's industrial zone (Deftechtimes)
- Explosion at Avangard Factory in Sterlitamak Causes Serious Damage (Mezha)
- Главные новости о взрыве на военном заводе Авангард в Башкирии – 18 октября 2025 (UFA1.RU, in Russian)
Sources
- Blast At Russian Explosives Factory Kills At Least Three
- Explosion at Tatarstan Petrochemical Plant Kills 3, Injures Dozens
