A Russian warehouse containing parts for Shahed drones has been destroyed in a fire, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence.
The warehouse was located in Western Tartarstan and contained parts for Shahed-136 drones, estimated to be worth £13 million.
In a post to its Telegram channel, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry wrote: “The mysterious destructive fire was another blow to the military-industrial complex of terrorist Russia.
“The Ukrainian defence ministry’s general directorate of military intelligence reminds us that there will be fair retribution for every war crime committed against the Ukrainian people.”
The Shahed is an Iranian-produced UAV that Tehran supplies Russia with.
Last year, Moscow and Tehran signed off on a secret military deal, which would see Russia initially re-assemble imported Iranian Shahed attack drones at a facility in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tartarstan.
According to the agreement, Russia would then proceed to produce airframes that would be combined with Iranian-supplied engines and electronics.
Finally, the Tatarstan plant will start manufacturing UAVs independently, with a target of building 6,000 drones by September 2025.
Engineers at the facility, which, when fully developed, is expected to measure 100,000 square metres, are said to be using Russian industrial expertise to produce drones in greater quantity and with greater quality control than Iran has ever achieved.
They are also attempting to update the drones and make them capable of carrying out swarm attacks in which the UAVs autonomously coordinate a strike on a target.
The Kremlin has used its Iranian-supplied drones to attack targets deep inside Ukraine to devastating effect.
UAV attacks have taken out air defence systems, as well as destroyed critical power grids and, most recently, grain stockpiles.
The prospect of Russia being able to launch regular drone strikes using hundreds of them per attack is causing serious concerns among Western security experts.
Reuben Johnson, a defence expert and adviser to the US Pentagon, told Express.co.uk that although Ukraine currently holds a drone advantage over Russia, this could all change.
“It will be a game changer on the battlefield if they can ship all those drones in steady numbers,” he said.
“I don’t know if we really know how many they can build per month.
“The Russians are doing their best to try and flood the zone. And really it is the only thing they have got left.”
