Key Points and Summary – Russia’s drone and missile attacks on Ukraine escalated to record levels in July, reflecting a rapidly expanding domestic production capacity.
-This surge, built on Iranian Shahed technology, aims to achieve an unprecedented ability to launch thousands of drones at once.
Lancet Drone. Image Credit: Russian State Media.
-However, a recent investigation by an exiled Russian media outlet has made a disturbing claim: this growing industry is allegedly being powered in part by child labor.
Is Russia’s Drone Attack Uptick Powered By Child Labor?
As Russian forces utilize summer’s advantageous weather conditions with ground assaults and major territorial advances, its aerial campaigns are escalating, too.
Data published by the Ukrainian air force suggests a record 6,443 drones and missiles were launched at Ukraine through July.
The data shows a roughly 13% increase in drone and missile strikes over June, when 5,438 drones and 239 missiles were launched at targets in Ukraine. An ABC News analysis of the data reported an average rate of 201 drone attacks per day, compared to 181 last month. The Ukrainian air force says it intercepted or suppressed over 87% of drones and 73% of missiles in June.
The dramatic uptick in attacks reflects Moscow’s rapidly expanding drone production capacity. Russian state media has openly highlighted the scale of domestic manufacturing efforts, and in one recent broadcast, Zvezda TV showcased a drone assembly facility in Alabuga, Tatarstan, where workers were seen constructing Geran drones.
According to a German assessment of the conflict, Russia is looking to achieve unprecedented drone attack capacities, with an aim to launch as many as 2,000 drones at once. Maj. Gen. Christian Freuding, the head of the German Ministry of Defense’s Planning and Command Office, said in July that the Russians are building on Iranian drone technology to reach their goal.
“The ambition is to have 2,000 drones that can be used simultaneously,” Freuding said.
“The quality of the drones that were copied from the Iranian predecessor models has improved significantly—we assume that the potency has increased by 50%, they are hardened against electronic warfare defenses and harder to defend against,” he continued.
Lancet Drone from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Among the UAVs being manufactured by Russia’s newest facilities is the Geran-2, which is modeled on the Iranian Shahed design. While most of the drone’s components can now be manufactured domestically, Russia still relies on Iranian technology and expertise. Iran received $1.7 billion from Russia in 2022, when the first batch of drones was delivered.
Russia Recruits Children for Drone Design
A recent investigation by exiled Russian media outlet Insider also claimed the country’s growing drone industry is recruiting help from children. According to reports, Russian leaders are pushing a new “patriotic” education that is actively involving children in the production of new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“The kids are actively involved in modelling components of systems for various drones,” one teenager told reporters. “I know of several people at least who were modelling UAV components for major enterprises.”
The report suggests that children are encouraged to participate in video game competitions, with the most talented children being recruited by Russian defense companies.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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August 4, 2025 at 3:47 am
My Gawd! The use of children is finally spoken about. The orc ruskie ethnic has victimized children for 1000 years. Why is the WEST full of hack writers who seem to have discovered a new planet with this orc victimization of kiddies.
The Ukrainian children are a particular ancient target. The orc ruskie financed the muscovite economy, their GNP, for over 500 years with the tradition of their sex trade. Bi-annual sex trade caravans left muscovite territory to “Harvest” Ukrainian children for the peasant ruskie personal satiation. Then, the abused children were delivered to the dungeon fort of Caffe in the Crimea. There the ruskies haggled with muslims for the best Ottoman gold weight for their delivery of “Lolita” for permanent shipment to Turkey.
1616 is a good year to study of how Ukrainian fathers stopped the muslim Black Sea sex trade fleet and chased ruskie caravens filled with gold GNP back to Moscow.
That the same exact child abuse occurs 500 years later is a genetic trait of the peasant ruskie ethnic. They want their “Lolita” just like great grandpa did.
The captive nations of Siberia are also a source of “meat” for the ruskie ethnic elite. The men are signed into the meat grinder army to genocide independent Ukraine and the “far east” kiddies are sent into ruskie elite sweat factories.
The lure of snoring ignorant MSM of the WEST is just too much for the muscovite tsarling elite to resist. In 2025 Ukrainian homes, fertile fields, farms, factories, forests are all valuable assets there to be stolen for free, at no-cost to muscovites as long as the WEST keeps snoring and keep watching pro-sports and/or commie controlled tick tok agit prop. -30-