In a precision strike, Ukraine's Defense Forces successfully hit the russian military-industrial enterprise VZPP, short for Voronezh Semiconductor Devices Plant. The company is legally divided into VZPP-Mikron and VZPP-S. According to its own description, the plant is a "leading developer and manufacturer of electronic components."
Footage recorded by residents of Voronezh shows several cruise missiles, most likely, striking the facility's main production building. The missiles appear to have hit sequentially along the entire length of the structure.
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According to Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, the Voronezh facility supplied components for russia's air-launched Kh-101 cruise missile. It manufactured electronic components, including 1NT2514 NPN transistor assemblies and 2TS622A transistor arrays for the UVK-208 unit used in the missile's navigation system.
The plant also produced similar components for the Zarya-61M onboard computer used in the R-500 cruise missile, which is launched from the Iskander-K missile system.
Beyond supplying components for missiles used in attacks against Ukrainian cities, the enterprise also manufactured electronic components for the Pantsir air defense missile and gun system.
As a semiconductor manufacturer, the facility housed highly specialized production equipment that is extremely sensitive to vibration and even to the concentration of dust particles in the air. As a result, the impact of several cruise missiles, followed by fire and structural collapse, makes it highly unlikely that production can be restored in the foreseeable future.
It is also worth noting that russian semiconductor plants traditionally rely heavily on foreign-made equipment from leading Western manufacturers. Much of this machinery was either legally acquired before 2014 or obtained later through sanctions-evasion schemes. Because of international sanctions, even routine calibration of such equipment has become difficult, while repairs can be even more problematic.
At present, it remains unclear which long-range weapon was used to carry out the strike more than 180 kilometers from Ukraine's border. However, another russian microelectronics manufacturer, Kremniy El in Bryansk, was reportedly destroyed by Storm Shadow cruise missiles on March 10 of this year.
From the Defense Express side, we urge readers to join a fundraiser for a solution that is already proving effective: the One United Fundraiser, organized by the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation to support interceptor drones.
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