Russian Drone Factory CEO Seriously Wounded in Car Explosion
Vladimir Tkachuk, 35, heads Yekaterinburg-based drone manufacturer Uraldronzavod, which produces the "Upyr" family of first-person-view (FPV) drones used by Russian forces in the war in Ukraine.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The chief executive of a Russian drone manufacturing company has been seriously wounded in a car explosion, Russian state media reported on Wednesday, in what appeared to be the second attack targeting a Russian defense industry official within days.
Vladimir Tkachuk, 35, heads Yekaterinburg-based drone manufacturer Uraldronzavod, which produces the "Upyr" family of first-person-view (FPV) drones used by Russian forces in the war in Ukraine.
Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported that Tkachuk's Mercedes exploded in the village of Bolshoy Istok, just outside Yekaterinburg. The circumstances surrounding the blast and the exact timing of the incident 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 an emergency services source as saying.
Images circulated on Russian social media appeared to show the burned-out remains of Tkachuk's vehicle surrounded by charred debris, though the authenticity of the images has not been independently verified.
Tkachuk founded Uraldronzavod in 2023 and has previously been photographed presenting the company's drones to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The incident comes less than a week after the founder and director of another Russian drone manufacturing company was wounded in a shooting that prosecutors described as an attempted murder.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv has been linked to attacks targeting Russian military and defense industry figures, although Ukraine made no immediate comment on Wednesday's explosion.