Russia Builds New Explosives Plant in Siberia — Reuters

Russia is completing construction of a large explosives plant in Siberia, around 3,000 km from Ukraine, to support its ammunition production capacity amid the ongoing war.

According to a Reuters investigation, the facility is part of a broader effort to expand military production.

The new production line is being built at a site owned by Ya. M. Sverdlova State Owned Enterprise, one of Russia’s main producers of military explosives.

Evidence suggests that the plant under expansion is the Biysk Oleum Plant, where production of RDX (a powerful explosive not currently manufactured at the site) is expected to begin.

Documents also reference chemicals such as urotropine and nitric acid, which are used in the synthesis of both RDX and HMX (octogen).

However, the use of the state standard code “GOST RV 1376-001-2006” in the documents specifically indicates hexogen (RDX) production.

While RDX has some civilian applications in industries like mining and construction, the involvement of the Ministry of Defense and a state-owned enterprise points to a primarily military function.

The project contract, published in 2023 and later removed from the site, states that the facility is expected to produce 6,000 tons of explosives per year, with completion scheduled for the end of 2025. This volume would be sufficient to produce approximately 1.28 million OF-29 152 mm artillery shells. The document was later removed from the website.

By comparison, Ukrainian intelligence estimates that in 2024, Russia produced around 2 million artillery shells of 122 mm and 152 mm calibers and imported approximately 2.7 million more from North Korea.

Construction Pace

The Russian government allocated RUB 15.5 billion ($189 million) from a special emergency fund for the project. Construction began in 2023 and involves the renovation or construction of at least 20 buildings, including warehouses, tunnels, blast barriers, and a rail extension.

Documents show that some structures were nearing completion as early as mid-2023.

Satellite imagery from March 29, 2025, reviewed by Planet Labs, shows that all 20 planned buildings were in various stages of development.

These include facilities for urotropine production and nitric acid storage, along with continued work on rail infrastructure.

According to explosives expert Thomas Klapötke of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, production could begin within six to ten weeks of infrastructure completion, assuming no significant technical delays.