Russia plans to manufacture up to 120,000 of its inexpensive gliding bombs this yearcapable of causing great devastation, a senior Ukrainian intelligence official said, including 500 of a new, longer-range version that can reach more towns and cities.
Russia has massively increased weapons production since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with defense plants operating 24 hours a day. It does not reveal details of military production, which is classified as secret.
Reuters could not verify the 2025 goal, which Major General Vadym Skibitskyideputy head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, revealed in an interview.
He did not say how he had obtained the figure or give previous data, but he would indicate a large increase in the manufacture of glider bombswhich use wings, and sometimes engines, to fly dozens of kilometers to their targets.
The 120,000 figure includes new ammunition and existing bombs upgraded for gliding.
According to Skibitskyi, Russian forces fire between 200 and 250 glider bombs a day. Last month, The daily average was about 170according to data from the Ministry of Defense.
“It is possible to shoot them down, but the number of these aerial bombs produced in the Russian Federation (…) is enormous“said Skibitskyi.”This is a threat. A threat that will require us to respond appropriately”.
The bombs, whose range was previously estimated at up to 90 kilometers, can breach Ukrainian defenses without sending aircraft across the front lines, where they would be shot down.
They are much cheaper and more abundant than missilesand its hundreds of kilograms of explosive can penetrate buildings and fortifications. They have bombed frontline cities like Kharkiv and Kherson.
Russia is launching mass production of a new gliding bomb capable of traveling up to 200 km from the launch point from a fighter jet, Skibitskyi said, adding that it plans to manufacture about 500 by the end of this year.
Ukraine also believes that Russia is working on modifications so that these bombs can fly up to 400 km, which would allow Moscow to attack even more Ukrainian towns and cities without using missiles, he said.
The October glide bomb attacks in the Mykolaiv, Poltava and Odessa regions, located at least tens of kilometers from the nearest front lines, have already demonstrated the increasing range of this weapon.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia denies attacking civilians, but thousands have been killed and injured in the invasion. Moscow maintains that kyiv’s moves to ally with the West pose a threat to Russia and must be stopped.
Skibitskyi also gave estimates on Russia’s production of drones, which he said has allowed it to more effectively attack Ukraine’s energy system.
In 2025, Russia will manufacture a total of about 70,000 long-range unmanned aircrafthe commented, including 30,000 Shahedwhich are the workhorse of Russian attacks.
“They started with 30 drones a month, now 30 can fly to a single target,” he said, expecting attacks on gas and energy infrastructure to continue into the winter.
“Without a doubt they want to break us. This is destabilizing the internal situation,” he said. Skibitskyi described it as one of the tools to pressure Ukraine toward a more accommodating position in any potential peace negotiations.
He also said that if Russian troops capture the besieged city of Pokrovskwhere street battles are currently being fought, are likely to push towards the borders of the region of Donetskhis goal for a long time.
Shipping millions of rounds of artillery shells from North Korea helped Russia maintain the pace of battlefield fire in 2024, but Skibitskyi said the number had more than halved this year as Pyongyang’s stockpile was depleted.
He cited a total supply of 6.5 million artillery shells to Russia from 2023 by North Korea, which took the opportunity to strengthen ties with the Kremlin after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He said there were no deliveries of projectiles from North Korea in September, but some in October, and that about half of the projectiles supplied by Pyongyang were so old they needed to go to plants in Russia to be upgraded.
Skibitskyi added that North Korea had launched mass production on its own territory of small, short-range First Person View (FPV) drones, as well as larger medium-range battlefield attack drones, although he did not specify the scale.
“They are learning, they are studying their experience (in this war) to expand production in their own territory,” he said.
(Reuters)
