A Russian ballistic missile destroyed a drone factory in Kyiv that belonged to Terminal Autonomy, a US corporation registered in the state of Delaware. It appears to be the first time during the war that Russia has attacked a facility owned by an American company.
The Guardian reported this, citing its own source familiar with the company’s activities.
The Russian news agency TASS was the first to report the strike, citing the Russian Defence Ministry. The report did not mention that the facility belonged to an American company, but said that specialists from a Ukrainian-American company worked there and that AQ-400 Scythe and AQ-100 Bayonet drones were manufactured at the plant.
Terminal Autonomy and Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence have not yet commented on the information. According to preliminary reports, there were no fatalities as a result of the missile strike.
Terminal Autonomy manufactures precision long-range strike drones with guidance systems resistant to Russian electronic jamming. A source told the publication this.
The company was registered in Delaware in 2023. Its website states that it supplies AI-guided loitering munitions and precision munitions that are already being used against enemy targets on the frontline.
Former senior US intelligence officer Anthony Vinci said that, for Russia, the owner of a manufacturing facility does not matter because it remains a target regardless. He also believes Russian forces would attack a facility in Ukraine if Patriot missiles or other American systems were produced there.
