🇺🇦🇷🇺 RUSSIA IS OUTRAGED UKRAINE STRUCK A MILITARY FACTORY AT 6 PM, JUST AS WORKERS WERE GOING HOME A Russian governor has accused Ukraine of “particular cynicism” for striking a military-industrial facility in Oryol at approximately 6 PM, when employees were finishing their shifts. Apparently, Moscow believes its war industry should enjoy the protection of ordinary business hours. The October 23 attack targeted JSC Proton, a facility reportedly involved in manufacturing electronic components for Russian military systems, including Iskander ballistic missiles and Pantsir air defence systems. According to accounts of the operation, four British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles arrived shortly after workers began leaving. A production workshop and an administrative building were struck, with subsequent footage showing extensive fires at the facility. The precise damage and number of missiles involved have not been independently established. Ukrainian intelligence has also identified foreign industrial equipment allegedly used in Proton's production processes, including machinery associated with South Korea's Hanwha and Japan's Sodick. The reported presence of such equipment raises questions about how Russia continues obtaining advanced manufacturing capabilities despite international restrictions. Russian military commentators were particularly frustrated by the performance of local air defences. The pro-war commentator Kotenok suggested that the missiles had approached along routes already familiar from previous Ukrainian drone operations. Defenders had assumed their existing coverage would be sufficient. That assumption appears to have been misplaced. Meanwhile, the Russian aviation channel Fighterbomber praised local air defence personnel while reminding readers that publishing photographs of damaged military facilities could carry criminal consequences. The contrast was difficult to miss: praise for the defenders, accompanied by warnings not to show what happened. The Oryol strike formed part of a much broader series of reported Ukrainian operations against Russian infrastructure. Accounts described hundreds of drones operating across 21 Russian regions, an attack on the Azot chemical facility in the Urals, and a strike against electrical infrastructure near Taman that reportedly disrupted power supplies to occupied Crimea. Russian facilities increasingly distant from the Ukrainian border are being forced to confront a threat once largely associated with the immediate front line. Even Russian administrative infrastructure is adapting. Reports described anti-drone netting being installed around a major Federal Tax Service data centre hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine. The strategic problem for Moscow is cumulative. Protecting factories, refineries, substations, military installations and logistical infrastructure across such an enormous country requires air defence resources that cannot be concentrated everywhere simultaneously. Each successful strike also creates additional costs through repairs, interrupted production and the need to strengthen protection around previously secure facilities. There were other reminders of how far the war's consequences have spread. Separate accounts described diplomatic expulsions involving Russia in Austria and Moldova, while Russian military commentators continued questioning the effectiveness of their country's defensive preparations. Yet amid the destruction, one development carried an entirely different emotional weight. Ukraine reported the return of 270 prisoners, including five men who had previously been listed as dead. Among those returning was Yevhenii, a Ukrainian marine musician who had spent four and a half years in captivity in Mordovia. After finally returning home, he sang the words he had carried with him throughout his imprisonment: “Mordovia, farewell! Ukraine, meet me!” For all the arguments over missiles, factories and military infrastructure, that moment captured something the battlefield statistics cannot. Behind every exchange of fire are people who have spent years waiting to see their families again. And while Russian officials complain about the timing of attacks on facilities supporting their military, Ukrainian families are still living with the consequences of a war Moscow chose to launch.