A "secret Factory" For Drone Production Appeared In Minsk
11- 29.07.2025, 14:36
- 14,254
Behind him is Victor Seaman.
Putin announced at his last meeting with Lukashenko that Russia was ready to build a drone factory in Belarus. But according to a new investigation by "Belpol", such a factory is being built (and probably partially launched already) in the Frunzensky district of Minsk.
Officially, the enterprise has the status of a private one, but according to the investigation, it is run by firms and employees close to Lukashenko.
According to the investigators, Belarus has a design bureau called Unmanned Helicopters, which specializes in the development and production of heavy helicopter-type drones. Since August 9, 2024, this company fell under the sanctions of the U.S., and later other countries.
Foreseeing this development, the authorities decided to create a "daughter" - a kind of twin of the main company. This allowed to bypass some of the restrictions and continue operations under a different signboard.
In May 2023, CJSC "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" was registered with the authorized capital of only 3700 Belarusian rubles.
In August 2023, this company acquired production facilities on Yanka Mavra Street, 47, with an area of 16 hectares from the Minsk Plant of Construction Materials, which was in the process of liquidation. The price of the transaction - only 4.5 million rubles. Officially, the sale took place in accordance with Lukashenko's decree № 124-RP of August 9, 2023 with the stamp "for official use".
The new enterprise is the structure "Vector Capital Group" - formally a private company, which is headed by the former head of the Department of Affairs of Lukashenko Viktor Sheiman and his two deputies - Andrei Sviridov and Nikolai Selivanov.
In the case of CJSC "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles", as Belpol notes, every little thing was discussed at meetings at Vector Capital Group. Even such an issue as the delivery of scrap metal.
The key figures associated with "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" include Valery Yaprintsev, a veteran Belarusian businessman who was once a partner of the disgraced Yuri Chizh. According to the documents, he attended a meeting on the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles CJSC and is an official co-owner of both Belarusian and Russian drone-related companies. However, according to Belpol, some of these companies are fictitious, with meager staff and no real production.
According to the production plan as of October 2023, the plant at that time was already engaged in serial production of two types of attack UAVs:
- "Askalon" - a jet-powered winged drone with a range of up to 310 km (analog of the Iranian Shahed);
- "Peacekeeper" - with a range of up to 180 km.
By the end of 2025, the enterprise should reach the production of up to 960 units annually, or 2-3 drones daily. Each is capable of carrying up to 10 kilograms of explosives. The company's profit is estimated at $76.2 million a year.
And these are not prototypes, but weapons that are already supplied to Russia.
At the same time, CJSC "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" as of June 2025 was not included in any sanctions list, as it is not formally connected with the already under-sanctioned enterprise "Unmanned Helicopters".
Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims
You can contact us by the e-mail [email protected]
