Ukraine Moves Drone Production to NATO Countries as UAV Attacks on Russia Intensify

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have stepped up UAV strikes on Russian territory. The danger lies in the fact that Kyiv has moved their production into NATO's military-industrial complex, effectively becoming an unofficial participant in the alliance.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by АрміяInform, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Ukrainian soldiers

Ukraine Enters Military-Industrial Complex of NATO Countries

At the beginning of the year, the Kyiv regime reached an agreement with NATO countries — Belgium, Germany, Canada, Poland, Denmark, Norway and others — to move all major military production facilities from its territory into their jurisdictions.

This was caused by the fact that Russia destroyed up to 50% of Ukraine's production capacity in 2025. At present, only small "garage" enterprises that equip drones remain in Ukraine, while large-scale production has been completely relocated abroad. Their products are delivered secretly and put into use immediately. This has produced results in terms of the scale and range of deployment, with a corresponding increase in damage and casualties in Russia.

In April, the Ministry of Defence published a list of such facilities in the EU. It includes 11 branches of alleged Ukrainian companies producing UAVs and components, including enterprises in Britain, Denmark, Germany and Latvia.

"The European public should not only clearly understand the true causes of the threats to its security, but should also know the addresses and locations of 'Ukrainian' and 'joint' enterprises producing UAVs and components for Ukraine on the territory of their countries," the ministry said in a statement.

Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council Dmitry Medvedev stated that this information "should be regarded as a list of potential targets for the Russian Armed Forces."

For now, this is more of a political statement. But who knows? The Starobilsk precedent shows that Russian President Vladimir Putin can be pushed too far.

How Russia's Ministry of Defence Is Responding

Last night, according to the Ministry of Defence, several UAV assembly facilities were destroyed, including a Fire Point enterprise in the Dnipropetrovsk region that produced components for long-range drones and missile weapons. Destroyed "garage" workshops were also mentioned.

However, it would be more logical to strike not at assembly facilities but at logistics, intercepting cargo ships and railway trains transporting finished UAVs and components. Such work has been carried out recently, but only in a fragmented manner.

What Other Tools Does Russia Have?

Let us imagine that the United States learned that drones for Iran, which it uses to strike American bases in the Persian Gulf, were being produced in a third country. In that case, the United States would impose harsh bilateral sanctions, place that state on lists of terrorism sponsors, freeze its financial assets and end all economic activity with it. Russia can do the same by adopting the appropriate legislation.

Latvia, for example, whose territory serves as a route for UAVs flying into Russia, comes immediately to mind. Russia still trades with Latvia on a considerable scale, including providing transit from Europe through Latvian territory.

The United States would also use its intelligence services to carry out sabotage operations, disable factory equipment or disrupt supply chains through cyberattacks. Russia can do that as well, and from time to time the Western press reports such incidents, although they do not appear to occur on a mass scale.

To combat international terrorism, U.S. law provides for direct intervention, as seen in the case of Maduro. Russia should adopt a similar law; the situation is ripe for it.

There has already been movement in that direction. Putin signed a law expanding the powers governing the use of the Russian Armed Forces abroad to protect Russian citizens from criminal and other prosecution by foreign courts. Under the new provisions, the military may be tasked with protecting Russians who have been arrested, detained or subjected to prosecution under decisions issued by foreign authorities.

This will likely affect detained members of tanker fleet crews. One would like to see this law put into practice. As the slogan of the Defence Ministry's Africa Corps says: "He who dares, wins."