A guard looks nervously. With each step, the air thickens with the smell of gasoline. Around the corner is the workshop and the buzz of manufacturing. Inside, technicians in white coats are busy assembling gray birds in the light of the ceiling lights. Young men in t-shirts rush before packing the drones in boxes for their later delivery. The destination of some of them will be 1,000 km or more away: they will search for important targets inside Russia.
Since President Volodymyr Zelensky prioritized the technology, Ukraine has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in long-range drones, capable of searching for and striking distant targets. Half a dozen companies now make them.
The best of the new models has a range of 3,000 km, capable of reaching Siberia. Born out of necessity – the West has been reluctant to provide Ukraine with long-range weapons – this program has disrupted much of Russia’s oil and military infrastructure. But the White House is not happy. This pushes the Ukrainians to stop the strikes.
American concerns range from rising oil prices to the prospect of an out-of-control retaliatory exchange in which Ukraine could end up losing. Fears about this increased in late March, when Russia inflicted millions of dollars in damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The attacks revealed gaps in air defenses and vulnerabilities to Russia’s new Kh-69 low-altitude cruise missile. On April 11, such missiles destroyed Ukraine’s Trypilska power plant, 40 km from kyiv, while it was within range of the capital’s Patriot air defense systems.
So far, Ukraine is ignoring US advice to call off the strikes. “Detective,” an intelligence officer responsible for part of the program, claims to have received no instructions to slow down operations. Sure, there was a lot of focus on oil infrastructure last week, but that’s probably only temporary. “Our goals change day by day. We keep the Russians on their toes.”
A long-range drone producer says not all U.S. officials agree with his policies. His contacts “winked” while issuing warnings. “They’re telling us privately to keep going.” The producer predicts an expansion of Ukraine’s drone program in the coming months. “Russia is burning Ukrainian land. It’s time we did the same with European Russia.”■
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