RismadarVoice Reporters, August 5, 2026
The director of a Russian factory that manufactures drones for the country’s military has been critically injured after his vehicle exploded near the city of Yekaterinburg, according to Russian state media.
Vladimir Tkachuk, head of Uraldronzavod, was hospitalised in critical condition following the explosion, which occurred late Tuesday in Bolshoy Istok, a town just outside Yekaterinburg in Russia’s Ural region.
Russia’s state news agencies, TASS and RIA Novosti, reported that the cause of the explosion remains unclear, while authorities have yet to identify any suspects or announce the launch of an official investigation.
Tkachuk led the company responsible for producing the Upyr (“Ghoul”) first-person-view (FPV) drone, a low-cost unmanned aircraft widely used by Russian forces. The drone has been praised by military personnel for its resistance to electronic jamming and its effectiveness on the battlefield.
A small-scale entrepreneur before founding the company, Tkachuk assembled a team of engineers that developed the Upyr drone and established its production near Yekaterinburg, one of Russia’s major industrial centres.
This incident comes amid a series of attacks targeting Russian military and defence-linked figures since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian authorities have frequently accused Ukraine of orchestrating bombings and sabotage operations inside Russia, although no evidence has been presented linking Kyiv to Tuesday’s explosion.
The car blast also follows a deadly explosion at an upscale restaurant in Moscow over the weekend that killed five people and injured 19 others.
Russian officials described the restaurant bombing as a terrorist attack, while the Russian Embassy in Rome blamed Ukraine for the incident. However, Russia’s security agencies have not officially identified those responsible.
Several Russian media outlets claimed the restaurant blast was aimed at a senior Russian military commander attending a private event, although those reports have not been independently verified.
