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A UKRAINIAN DRONE has struck a Russian industrial plant 1,200km from Ukraine, a local official said, after Kyiv prioritised the weapon’s development and Russia pounded Ukraine with a record number of drones last month.
Russia launched 5,438 drones at Ukraine in June, a monthly record, according to official data collated by the Associated Press.
Both sides have raced to improve drone technology and enhance their use on the battlefield, deploying increasingly sophisticated and deadlier drones, turning the war into a testing ground for the new weaponry.
Ukraine is under severe strain from a Russian push in areas of the front line but analysts say its defences are largely holding firm.
With recent direct talks delivering no progress on US-led international efforts to halt the fighting, Moscow and Kyiv are bulking up their arsenals.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone hit an industrial plant in Izhevsk, about 620 miles east of Moscow, killing three people and injuring 35, according to Alexander Brechalov, head of the Udmurtia region. The plant’s workers were evacuated, he added.
The drone struck the Kupol Electromechanical Plant, which produces air defence systems and drones for the Russian military, according to an official with Ukraine’s Security Service the SBU.
At least two direct hits were recorded on the plant’s buildings, the official said.
Ukraine has for months been using domestically produced long-range drones to strike plants, storage sites and logistical hubs deep inside Russian territory.
In May last year, a Ukrainian drone hit an early-warning radar in the Russian city of Orsk, 1,120 miles from the Ukrainian border, Kyiv officials claimed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s domestic production of drones is about to increase in response to Russia’s expanded barrages.
“The priority is drones, interceptor drones and long-range strike drones,” he said late on Monday.
“This is extremely important,” he added. “Russia is investing in its unmanned capabilities, Russia is planning to increase the number of drones used in strikes against our state. We are preparing our countermeasures.”
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