Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree establishing a new branch within the Russian Armed Forces dedicated to unmanned systems, headed by Major General Denis Lyamin.
The decision came as part of changes in the command structure of forces participating in the military operation in Ukraine.
Putin stated that drones are “cheap, effective, and highly efficient, and also represent an important tool for various activities in other areas.”
Last June, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov announced that the armed forces would receive approximately 20,000 drones by 2026, capable of carrying payloads ranging from 10 to 40 kilograms.
In a related incident, the CEO of a Russian drone factory has been seriously wounded in a “car explosion,” Russian state media reported Wednesday, in what appeared to be a second assassination attempt on a Russian defense official in days.
Vladimir Tkachuk, 35, is head of Yekaterinburg-based drone manufacturer Uraldronzavod. Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported that his Mercedes exploded in the village of Bolshoy Istok, just outside Yekaterinburg. The circumstances of the incident and when it took place were not immediately clear.
“Vladimir Tkachuk was injured in a car explosion. He is in intensive care in serious condition, and doctors are fighting for his life,” Russia’s TASS news agency quoted a source in emergency services as saying.
Uraldronzavod is most famous for producing the “Upyr” family of first-person-view (FPV) drones that Russia uses on the battlefield in Ukraine. (EIR/AFP)
