Russian drones damage Indian-owned pharma plant in Ukraine, one killed

A pharmaceutical plant in Ukraine’s Sumy region belonging to India’s Kusum Group was badly damaged in a Russian drone attack, killing one person and injuring several others, according to Ukrainian officials.

The main structure of the plant was mostly destroyed in the attack.

Officials said the number of casualties and injured could change. Visuals from the site showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area where the drones struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack and said one person was killed at a pharmaceutical warehouse in Sumy. He said six people were injured in separate attacks on a communications facility in Dnipro.

Zelensky said Russia launched 135 attack drones against Ukraine overnight, including more than 50 jet-powered drones, targeting several regions. He said Russia had used more than 1,900 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 25 missiles against Ukraine during the week.

The Kusum Group began operations in 1994 as a distributor exporting Indian medicines to Ukraine and is currently run by Indian national Rajeev Gupta. It began marketing its own brands in 2002 and entered manufacturing with a plant in India in 2007 and a facility in Sumy in 2009, followed by two more plants in India.

The group produces more than 50 mostly generic medicines and sells them in over nine countries, mainly Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and the Philippines. It describes itself as a Ukrainian company with Indian roots.

The Sumy plant continued operating during the Russia-Ukraine war but has now suffered major damage. The loss is estimated at at least Rs 400 crore.

Ukraine has faced increasing attacks from jet-powered Shahed drones, which air defence teams have struggled to intercept because of their speed. Ukraine also announced this week the first combat use of its domestically produced FP-7 ballistic missile, with a reported range of about 250 km.