Russia says seizes Western-made, AI-powered drones prepared for attacks in Urals, Far East

(Reuters)

MOSCOW, July 13 – Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Monday that ​it had seized Western-made, AI-powered FPV drones that had been ‌dropped onto Russian territory by larger Ukrainian fixed-wing drones and balloons, and were intended to be used for attacks deep inside Russia.

The FSB said they landed in Bryansk region ​close to Ukraine, and then Ukrainian agents had transported the drones ​in trailers, fitted with false bottoms and loaded with household ⁠appliances, across Russia to the Chelyabinsk region in the Ural Mountains and ​the Amur region in the Far East.

It said the plan was to ​strike the Shagol and Ukrainka air bases in those regions, adding that the perpetrators had been detained.

The FSB said the drones were manufactured in the United States, Britain, Canada ​and Sweden, carried more than 1 kg of explosives each, and used ​AI navigation to avoid Russian jamming.

The foiled operation resembled a 2025 attack on Russian military air ‌bases ⁠during an operation dubbed “Spider’s Web”, in which about 20 aircraft were damaged. The attack’s targets included the Ukrainka base. In the 2025 attack, trucks carrying wooden sheds with retractable roofs were used to transport drones closer to ​the targets.

Ukraine has intensified ​attacks on Russian ⁠refineries and defence-linked enterprises in recent months, striking targets thousands of kilometers from Ukraine’s border with Russia. The ​attacks have led to fuel shortages across Russia as major ​refineries have ⁠gone out of operation.

Russia has in recent weeks hardened its anti-Western rhetoric, accusing the West of direct involvement in Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian territory.

Kremlin ⁠spokesman Dmitry ​Peskov said last week that the “special military ​operation” in Ukraine had turned into a war because of Western backing for Ukraine.