The Brave1-developed drones can target forward bases, supply lines, and infrastructure deep behind enemy lines, forcing adversaries to reconsider defensive strategies and highlighting the growing importance of locally developed, rapidly deployable UAV technology.

This signals a potential shift in modern conflict dynamics: NATO and allied forces may need to account for cost-effective drones capable of precision strikes far beyond front lines, influencing procurement decisions and future air-defense planning worldwide. The deployment of scalable, resistant drones in Ukraine demonstrates how conflict zones can accelerate innovation that could reshape future military doctrines globally.

Brave1, a Ukrainian defense cluster, coordinated the trials with military units and manufacturers to ensure the drones are effective and ready for operational use. The cluster also supports financing, logistics, and technical assistance, and plans grants to expand domestic production of explosive components to secure supply chains.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation reported that the final trials tested drones with warheads and countermeasures against electronic warfare. Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said:

Thanks to Brave1’s support and military feedback, manufacturers achieved the technological maturity needed to begin combat trials.

While 40–50 km strike drones also exist elsewhere, Ukraine’s combination of rapid development, mass production potential, and electronic warfare resilience makes these UAVs particularly relevant in ongoing and future conflicts.
The deep strike drones are now being prepared for combat testing. These field trials will determine operational deployment, marking the next stage in integrating locally produced UAVs into frontline tactics.

Ukrainian forces hit a chemical facility deep in Russia’s Perm Oblast that produces components for military explosives, demonstrating Kyiv’s expanding reach into Russian industrial targets.

Drones struck the Metafrax Chemicals plant in Gubakha on 13 September, according to regional governor Dmitry Manohin, who reported no casualties and said the facility continued normal operations.

Russian news channel Astra later identified the specific target: a newly built urea production workshop that opened just last year.

The facility represents a significant strategic target due to its dual-use chemical production capabilities. According to defense publication Militarnyi, the plant produces urea, a key component in ammonium-nitrate mixtures that can serve as explosive filling for both civilian and military applications, including artillery shells and mines. 

While Metafrax Chemicals avoids public ties to Russia’s defense sector, its parent company Roskhim supplies chemical products directly to military industries.

Metafrax ranks among Russia’s largest methanol producers and landed the 200th spot in Forbes’ 2021 ranking of the country’s biggest private companies.

Local residents posted footage showing building damage and smoke rising from the facility, located approximately 1,600 km (994 miles) from the Ukrainian border, while Ukraine’s intelligence later confirmed their responsibility for the strike.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses shot down 80 drones overnight, though that number couldn’t be verified.

Ukrainian railway attacks inside Russia

Intelligence services simultaneously struck railway lines that Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate and Special Operations Forces have now openly claimed responsibility for.

The rail operations hit Oryol and Leningrad oblasts on 13-14 September, an intelligence source told RBC-Ukraine.

“These railway branches are critically important logistical links in supplying occupying forces in the Kharkiv and Sumy directions,” the source explained.

The goal: create major supply headaches that would “substantially affect their ability to carry out active operations.”

In Oryol Oblast, explosive devices killed three Russian National Guard personnel during track inspections, governor Andrey Klychkov reported.

Leningrad Oblast saw a locomotive derail with 15 cisterns attached. Governor Alexander Drozdenko called them empty, but Ukrainian sources claimed they carried fuel. A separate derailment killed a train engineer. Russian investigators suspect sabotage in both cases.