Ukrainian drone strikes Russian plant after record attacks by Moscow in June

A Ukrainian drone has struck a Russian industrial plant 800 miles 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.

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 at places on the 620-mile 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.

Russia launched 5,438 drones at Ukraine in June, a monthly record, according to official data collated by the Associated Press.

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.

Ukraine 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.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry said 60 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight over several regions, including 17 over Crimea, 16 over the Rostov region and four over the Saratov region.

At the same time, four Russian Shahed drones struck the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzia during the night, leaving more than 1,600 households without power, according to authorities.

Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday that Russia fired 52 Shahed and decoy drones at the country overnight.

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, criticised Moscow for continuing to strike civilian areas of Ukraine while effectively rejecting a ceasefire and dragging its feet on a peace settlement.

“We urge an immediate ceasefire and a move to trilateral talks to end the war,” he said late on Monday. “Russia cannot continue to stall for time while it bombs civilian targets in Ukraine.”

Ukraine is developing its own defence industry as uncertainty remains over whether the Trump administration will continue to provide crucial military aid.

Between March and April, the US allocated no new aid to Ukraine, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute.

European support has surpassed the US in total military aid for the first time since June 2022, totalling 72 billion euros (£61 billion) compared with 65 billion euros (£55 billion) from the US, the institute said last month.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday held their first direct telephone in almost three years.

The two leaders discussed the Iranian-Israeli war and the American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, a statement on the Kremlin’s website said.

They also talked about a peaceful settlement to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the Russian president stressing that any agreements should “be comprehensive and long term” and “based on new territorial realities”, the Kremlin statement said.

Mr Macron’s office said the French leader underlined “France’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and “called for a ceasefire to be established as soon as possible” so peace negotiations can be launched.

The two presidents last held direct talks in September 2022.