Vladimir Tkachuk, director of Russian drone manufacturer Uraldronzavod and a prominent pro-war blogger, was seriously injured in a car bombing near Ekaterinburg, a major industrial city in the Urals, according to Russian state media. The attack occurred on Tuesday in a small town outside the city, leaving Tkachuk in critical condition and resulting in the death of his driver. Local reports showed that the vehicle was almost completely destroyed.

Tkachuk’s company produces the Upyr drone, a fiber-optic-equipped unmanned aerial vehicle used by Russian military forces on the front lines of the conflict in Ukraine. The Upyr drone, named after a demon from Slavic folklore, is reportedly made largely using 3D printing technology, with about 60% of its components sourced domestically in Russia. The drone can carry explosive payloads of up to 10 kilograms and operate over distances of tens of kilometers. The Russian military employs these drones for offensive strikes against Ukrainian positions, resupply missions, and interception of enemy drones.

Tkachuk was formerly a real estate agent and has become an influential voice within Russia’s “people’s military-industrial complex,” a network of smaller enterprises rapidly producing military technology following President Vladimir Putin’s order for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His social media presence is extensive, with over 660,000 followers on the Telegram platform, where his channel reported yesterday that he was in stable condition and vowed to continue their work despite the attack.

This assassination attempt is part of a wider pattern of targeted attacks on figures involved in Russia’s war effort. Last Saturday, a bomb explosion at a private gathering in a Moscow Italian restaurant killed five people and injured 21 others. Some have speculated the blast aimed to target Alexander Chaiko, the head of Russia’s aerospace forces, whose daughter and son-in-law were reportedly wounded. It remains unconfirmed whether Chaiko was present during the attack or whether he was the intended target.

While no group has claimed responsibility for either incident, and Ukraine’s intelligence agencies have not commented, such attacks have become sufficiently frequent that Russian President Vladimir Putin extended protective security measures last year to cover 10 senior military officials, according to European intelligence sources.

Tkachuk had recently presented a model of the Upyr drone directly to Putin in 2024 and credited Vladlen Tatarsky, a military blogger killed in a Ukrainian bombing in 2023, as an inspiration for his work. The incident underlines the growing risks faced by key figures supporting the Russian military campaign amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.