Work suspended at Russian electronics plant in Chuvash Republic after Ukrainian drone attack

Ukrainian drones targeted Russia’s Chuvash Republic, with two crashing on the grounds of the VNIIR Russian Scientific Research Design and Technological Institute of Relay Engineering with experimental production, Governor Oleg Nikolayev said.

The institute has temporarily suspended operations “to ensure the safety of employees,” Nikolayev added. No casualties have been reported. Two more drones came down in fields, posing no threat to civilians, he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that air defenses intercepted and destroyed 49 Ukrainian drones overnight on June 9. Thirteen were shot down over both the Kursk and Nizhny Novgorod regions, nine each over Voronezh and Oryol, two over Bryansk and the Chuvash Republic, and one over Belgorod.

According to its website, VNIIR is a leading Russian developer, manufacturer, and supplier of relay protection and automation systems, automated process control systems, electronic modules, and other radio-electronic equipment. Its products are used, among other things, in nuclear power plants and the oil and gas industry.