Moscow, Aug 2026 : Vladimir Tkachuk, CEO of Russian drone manufacturer UralDronZavod, was seriously injured after a car explosion in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region late Tuesday night, according to emergency service officials cited by TASS. The incident comes amid heightened tensions and an intensification of drone and missile attacks between Russia and Ukraine. Tkachuk remained in intensive care following the blast, according to information available on Wednesday.
Details surrounding the circumstances of the explosion and whether it was deliberate were not immediately clear. UralDronZavod is a Russian full-cycle unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer that Tkachuk launched as a startup in 2023. The company develops and manufactures a range of drone systems, including compact unmanned platforms, heavy-lift multicopters and fixed-wing drones.
Its activities have gained significance amid the growing use of unmanned systems in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The incident occurred just a week after an attempted assassination targeting Andrey Cherezov, the chief designer and developer of Russia's Ovod series of drones, in a residential building in the western Russian city of Tula. The two incidents have raised concerns over the security of individuals involved in Russia's expanding drone industry, although no direct connection between the cases has been established.
Meanwhile, Ukraine reported another major overnight Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv on Wednesday. Ukrainian media reported that at least one person was killed and 12 others injured in the assault. Kyiv's military administration said damage was recorded at more than seven locations across the capital as of 2:10 a.m. local time.
Several fires broke out at warehouses and storage facilities, while a major blaze was also reported on the outskirts of the city. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a warehouse building near the city centre was destroyed and rescue workers pulled two people from the rubble. Debris from a downed missile also landed near a residential building, according to the mayor.
The surrounding Kyiv region was also affected. Local authorities reported another death and 21 injuries following the overnight attacks. Russia, meanwhile, said its capital had come under a large-scale Ukrainian drone assault.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early Wednesday that Russian air defences had shot down more than 190 unmanned aerial vehicles targeting the Moscow region. No casualties or damage to critical infrastructure were immediately reported by Moscow authorities. However, aviation authorities imposed temporary flight restrictions at Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo airports to ensure passenger and aircraft safety.
The Moscow region also reported casualties from an earlier Ukrainian drone attack. Governor Andrei Vorobyov said five people were killed and six others injured in strikes on the region on Tuesday morning. (The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.) Russian authorities had also reported significant casualties from Ukrainian drone attacks on several Russian regions on Monday, saying 10 people were killed and dozens injured. The latest exchanges underline the rapidly escalating role of drones in the conflict, with both sides increasingly targeting military, industrial and infrastructure-related sites while intensifying attacks deep inside each other's territory.
