A Ukrainian strike hit the Azov Optical-Mechanical Plant in Russia’s Rostov Oblast on Sept. 26, a facility that leaked records place inside the production chains of at least seven Russian missile programs, including the Kh-101 cruise missile. The records were obtained by Ukrainian private intelligence firm Dallas Analytics and described in Defense News.
The documents cover internal correspondence, state contract records and cooperation schedules from April 2023 through March 2025. They include letters from Tactical Missiles Corporation, the state holding company that owns AOMZ, along with an apparent supply schedule listing more than 70 line items and 44 component suppliers.
The documents, Dallas Analytics said, place AOMZ in the production chains of the Kh-101, the R-37M air-to-air missile and the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile. The firm said AOMZ produces the Kh-101’s “Otblesk” navigation lidar and flight automation block, and claimed that neither component has an alternative supplier.
The Kh-101 has been used regularly in Russian strikes against Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. A variant with a nuclear warhead, called the Kh-102, also exists.
A separate document lists a line item identified as components for an air-to-air missile with the additional comment “export China 192 pieces.” The records do not further identify the shipment or the recipient.
Records cited by the firm valued components scheduled for production at AOMZ in 2025 at 583.6 million rubles, or about $6.9 million. Of that amount, 497.6 million rubles, approximately $5.9 million, had reportedly been paid in advance.
Additional documents appear to show the plant’s production schedule for 2026. They list 36 sets of electrical and power units that Dallas Analytics identified as intended for the R-37 air-to-air missile. They also list 41 units of an item designated “65СНЛЭ” for an export version of the Kh-38 air-to-surface missile. Another 50 units were scheduled for November and December for a domestic version of that weapon.
A March 4, 2025, letter from KTRV marked “URGENT!!!” said the Russian Aerospace Forces wanted increased deliveries beginning in 2026. The letter called for 500 each of several electronic blocks and 1,000 R-37M missile housings annually. It gave AOMZ 72 hours to respond on whether it could meet the quotas.
Ukraine’s Security Service said it attacked the plant overnight with Neptune cruise missiles and drones. Rostov Governor Yuri Slyusar acknowledged a drone attack on Azov that damaged “industrial facilities” and residential buildings. Russian officials did not identify AOMZ as a target or confirm damage to it. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a plant in the region making missile components had been hit.
The records also identify TRV-Engineering, KTRV’s procurement arm, as a supplier of microcircuits for the Kh-101 navigation set. Dallas Analytics pointed to the use of intermediaries and front companies to obtain components globally despite sanctions on AOMZ.
The United States imposed sanctions on AOMZ in April 2022. The European Union, Britain, Japan, Ukraine and other countries later followed with sanctions. The documents and the reported strike place renewed attention on a Russian facility linked by the records to electronics and other components for several missile programs.