Car of head of FPV drone manufacturer blown up in Russia

In the village of Bolshoi Istok near Yekaterinburg, a Mercedes linked to Vladimir Tkachuk, CEO of 'Uraldronzavod', exploded. The enterprise manufactures 'Upyr' FPV drones used by Russian troops against Ukraine.

Russian sources provide conflicting data about the consequences of the explosion. TASS, citing emergency services, reported that Tkachuk sustained serious injuries and is in intensive care. At the same time, other media claim that the head of the enterprise was not in the car at the moment of the explosion, and the driver died.

According to sources in Russian emergency services, investigators have opened a criminal case for attempted murder using a method that endangers many people. No official statements from Russian law enforcement have been released regarding the circumstances of the incident.

Tkachuk was born in 1991 in Yekaterinburg. According to media reports, before founding the enterprise he worked as a realtor and administrator in a network of medical facilities, and also managed the Russian pro-war public page 'Turned to the War'.

In 2020, together with co-authors of the public page, Tkachuk decided to develop a military drone. In 2022-2023, using donations, the team set up a workshop for assembling FPV drones which were named 'Upyr'. During most of 2023 the company posted revenue of 3.6 million rubles and finished the year with a small profit.

From the manufacturer's publicised videos it appears that a significant part of the drone's body is manufactured using 3D printers. Tkachuk claimed that by March 2024 the production of the 'Upyr' was localised in Russia by around 60%, and that the Russian Ministry of Defense has begun officially purchasing a new model. There is no independent confirmation of these statements.

This is not the first attempt on the head of a Russian enterprise associated with the production of combat drones. Previously Kurs.com.ua reported about an

attempted
murder in Tula on Andrei Cherezov – the head of the company ‘Russian Air Transport Laboratory’, which develops drones for the Russian military.