On the night of April 29, 2025, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) launched an attack on the Nizhny Novgorod region using eight Lyuty unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with high-explosive charges. According to the SHOT Telegram channel, one of the drones was shot down in the Dzerzhinsk area, where strategic enterprises are located, including the FKP Ya.M. Sverdlov Plant, which produces explosives. The Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Gleb Nikitin, confirmed that the air defense (AD) and electronic warfare (EW) forces successfully repelled the attack over the territories of two districts of the region. No casualties or damage on the ground were recorded, but sappers and emergency services are working at the crash sites of three UAVs whose warheads did not detonate.

The Lyuty drones used in the attack are Ukrainian aircraft-type drones with a wingspan of about 3 meters, capable of carrying up to 60 kg of explosives. According to Lenta.ru, such UAVs were previously used in strikes in the Ivanovo region on April 16, 2025, where they damaged houses but did not reach their targets. SHOT clarifies that three drones shot down in the Nizhny Novgorod region did not detonate, which required the intervention of sappers to defuse the explosive charges. Presumably, the UAVs were launched from the territory of the Khmelnytsky region of Ukraine.

Dzerzhinsk, 400 km from Moscow and 900 km from the Ukrainian border, is a regular target due to its importance to the Russian military-industrial complex. The Sverdlov plant, which is under US and EU sanctions, produces industrial explosives and ammunition, making it a priority target.