Russia destroyed the Kyiv office of Ukrainian drone manufacturer Skyeton. The largest two-day aerial assault on Ukraine since the start of the war struck the building, the company said on its Facebook page on 14 May.
Skyeton, maker of the long-range Raybird reconnaissance drone, in service with Ukraine's Armed Forces since 2018, said it had anticipated the strike and pre-positioned production capacity across Ukraine and abroad. Production continues.
Russia fired more than 1,560 drones and 56 missiles between Wednesday morning and Thursday morning, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At least 16 people were killed, including two girls, in a Kyiv apartment block struck by a Kh-101 cruise missile manufactured this quarter. The attack happened on the day US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing for his first visit to China in nine years.
"We were ready for it"
"We understood that sooner or later Skyeton would become a target for the Russians, so we were ready for it and relocated production capacity to different parts of our country and abroad," the company said.
Skyeton said it would continue supplying unmanned aerial systems to Ukraine's defense forces and contribute to "defeating the Russian aggressor."
What Skyeton makes
Skyeton was founded in 2006 in Kyiv as a manufacturer of light sport aircraft, including the K-10 Swift. After Russia's 2014 invasion of Crimea, the company pivoted to unmanned aerial systems. It now employs more than 500 people, including over 100 engineers in its engineering and production division, according to UNIAN.
The company's flagship product is the Raybird, a fixed-wing reconnaissance drone with flight endurance of more than 28 hours, a range of up to 2,500 km, and a service ceiling of 5,500 m.
The drone weighs 23 kg at takeoff with a wingspan of 2.96 to 4.2 m. It is designed for deep reconnaissance, artillery fire correction, electronic warfare and intelligence support, maritime surveillance, and other missions. The Raybird has been in operational service with Ukraine's Armed Forces since 2018.
