Russian drone strike hits Indian-Linked pharma plant in Ukraine; one killed

KYIV: A pharmaceutical facility linked to Indian-owned Kusum Group in Ukraine’s Sumy region was damaged in a Russian drone strike, killing one person. The facility, headed by Indian national Rajeev Gupta, suffered extensive damage in the attack. The plant was established in 2009, and the damage is estimated at around Rs 400 crore, according to reports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attacks and expressed condolences to the family of the person killed. In a post on X, he said a pharmaceutical facility in Sumy was struck by Russian drones, killing one person. He said six people were injured in a separate attack on a communications facility in Dnipro. Emergency services were working at the sites hit in the overnight attacks, he said.

Russia launched 135 attack drones against Ukraine overnight, including more than 50 jet-powered drones, according to Zelenskyy. The Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions came under attack. “Among the main targets of these terrorists, as always, are ordinary residential buildings, critical infrastructure – everything that makes up normal everyday life,” Zelenskyy said. He added that some communities were facing power outages.

Zelenskyy said Russia had used more than 1,900 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 25 missiles against Ukraine over the past week, including more than 800 jet-powered drones. He also said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was visiting Kyiv and that Ukraine and Germany were preparing agreements to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian attacks. “Russia must be stopped together,” Zelenskyy said.