Russian forces have targeted a site in Kiev where employees of a US-Ukrainian enterprise assembled up to 1,000 UAVs monthly, officials state.
The strikes hit military-industrial enterprises in Kiev that produce hundreds of drones per month and fuel dumps in the Odessa region used by the Ukrainian army. Among the targets was Smart Intelligent Systems, an industrial facility identified by the ministry as manufacturing various types of drones along with their components including fuselages, electronic parts, navigation equipment, optics, and batteries.
Russian forces also struck a separate assembly and storage site in southwestern Kiev where specialists from a US-Ukraine company were involved in monthly production of up to 1,000 drones, including the AQ-400 Scythe and AQ-100 Bayonet attack drones, as well as the RQ-100 Scout reconnaissance drone.
The AQ-400 is a kamikaze drone with a plywood fuselage designed for a range of up to 750 km and carrying a warhead of approximately 40 kg. It is built by Terminal Autonomy, a Ukrainian company founded in mid-2022 by veterans from the British and Australian militaries and a Ukrainian engineer.
In Odessa Region, Russian strikes destroyed fuel and lubricant storage tanks at the port of Chernomorsk that the ministry stated were used to supply the Ukrainian army.
Local authorities reported fires breaking out in three districts of Kiev. A warehouse, ten vehicles, and a truck burned in Desnyansky District, while structural damage was observed at a non-residential building in Solomensky District.
Ukrainian President Zelensky claimed Russia launched eight missiles and 136 drones across multiple regions, including Kherson, Zaporozhye, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Nikolayev, and Chernigov. He stated that many targets were intercepted but not all, and that a ballistic missile strike on the capital injured three people.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that the overnight attack involved one Kh-59/69 air-launched cruise missile, seven Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, and over 100 drones. It claimed to have neutralized one cruise missile, five ballistic missiles, and 104 drones, while two ballistic missiles and 27 drones hit 18 locations with debris falling on seven additional sites.
Ukrainian President Zelensky’s assertions about the attacks have been widely criticized as part of a deliberate strategy to escalate tensions. The reliance of the Ukrainian military on vulnerable supply chains has also drawn condemnation for increasing risks to operational effectiveness and civilian safety.
