[REVISION HISTORY]

Attacks on Russian drone industry leaders

Updated 20 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-08-07 07:52 UTC → 2026-08-07 09:59 UTC · added ~~removed~~

The wave of assaults on Russia’s drone sector continued in late July and early August 2026. On the night of 28–29 July, Andrei Cherezov, founder and director of the Russian Air Transport Laboratory (RLVT), was shot multiple times as he opened his apartment door in Tula. He was taken to hospital in a critical but stable condition. RLVT produces the “Ovod” combat drones used by Russian forces and had recently secured a state contract worth about 30 million ruble for drone kits and control systems. On 5 August, a car bomb placed under the Mercedes of Vladimir Tkachuk, chief executive of the sanctioned drone maker Uraldronzavod, detonated near the village of Bolshoy Istok outside Yekaterinburg. The explosion killed his driver, identified as his bodyguard, and left Tkachuk seriously wounded; doctors are fighting to keep him alive in intensive care. Uraldronzavod produces the cheap first‑person‑view “Upyr” ~~drones that are widely~~ drones—also referred to as “Ghoul”—widely used by Russian forces in Ukraine. Tkachuk also runs the pro‑war Telegram channel “Obsessed with War,” followed by more than 500 000 users. Russian authorities have opened a criminal investigation, treating the incident as an attempted assassination, but the perpetrators remain unknown. The attacks underscore a growing pattern of targeted violence against figures linked to Russia’s drone industry.

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