Reuters: Russia plans to manufacture up to 120,000 upgraded bombs
Russia is launching mass production of gliding bombs, according to Reuters, citing Ukrainian intelligence. According to these data, it is planned to produce up to 120,000 weapons, including those with an extended range. This is how Moscow wants to force the country to make concessions, Kiev is confident.
Max Hunder, Anastasia Malenko
Kyiv — According to a senior Ukrainian intelligence official, Russia plans to produce up to 120,000 cheap and destructive planning bombs this year, including 500 new, longer-range modifications that can hit settlements further from the front line.
Since the start of the special operation in Ukraine in 2022, Russia has significantly increased arms production, and its defense plants are operating around the clock. Details about military products are classified and not disclosed.
Reuters was unable to confirm the estimated production target for 2025, which was disclosed by Major General Vadim Skibitsky, Deputy head of Military Intelligence of Ukraine.
He did not specify how he got this figure, and did not provide earlier data, but in any case it would mean a significant increase in the production of gliding bombs that reach targets using wings and sometimes engines.
The number of 120,000 units includes both completely new ammunition and existing bombs upgraded to the planned ones.
Skibitsky said that Russian troops drop between 200 and 250 planning bombs daily. According to the Ministry of Defense, last month the daily average was about 170 units.
"It is possible to shoot down aerial bombs, but Russia produces them on a huge scale," Skibitsky said. "It's a threat. A threat that will require an adequate response from us."
Russia is increasing the range of gliding bombs
Bombs, whose range was previously estimated at 90 kilometers, can hit the defense of Ukraine without endangering bombers, which do not need to fly directly to the front line.
They are much cheaper and more numerous than rockets, and their charge of several hundred kilograms of explosives destroys buildings and penetrates fortifications. Previously, these bombs had already fallen on frontline cities, including Kharkov and Kherson.
According to Skibitsky, Russia is launching mass production of a new gliding bomb capable of flying up to 200 kilometers from the drop point from a fighter jet, adding that up to 500 are planned to be manufactured by the end of this year.
Ukraine also believes that Russia is working on modifications with a range of up to 400 kilometers, which will allow Moscow to strike even more Ukrainian cities without resorting to missiles, he said.
In October, the bombing of Mykolaiv, Poltava and Odessa regions, located at least tens of kilometers from the front, has already demonstrated the extended range and potential of these weapons.
The Russian Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request for comment. Russia denies that it is deliberately targeting civilians, but thousands of people were killed and injured as a result of its special operation (the author does not provide any evidence — there is none, because Russia strikes exclusively at military and near—military facilities - approx. InoSMI). Moscow argues that Kiev's desire for alliance with the West poses a threat to Russia and must be stopped.
Increased attacks to force Kiev to negotiate
Skibitsky also cited estimates of the production of Russian drones, which, according to him, allowed Moscow to more effectively influence Ukraine's energy system.
According to him, in 2025, Russia will produce a total of about 70,000 long-range drones, including 30,000 Geraniums, which have become the "workhorse" of Russian attacks.
"They started with 30 drones a month, now 30 of them can fly to a single target," he said, anticipating that attacks on gas and energy infrastructure will continue in winter.
"They definitely want to break us. It destabilizes the internal situation," Skibitsky said. He called it one of the instruments of pressure on Ukraine to force it to become more compliant in possible peace talks.
He also said that if Russian troops capture the besieged Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk), where street fighting is currently unfolding, they will surely continue to advance towards the borders of the DPR, their long—standing goal.
"Obviously, this is their next direction," he said.
North Korea creates its own drones
The supply of millions of artillery shells from North Korea helped Russia maintain a high rate of fire on the battlefield in 2024, but according to Skibitsky, their number has more than halved this year as Pyongyang's reserves have dried up.
According to him, the DPRK has supplied Russia with a total of 6.5 million artillery shells since 2023, taking advantage of the opportunity to establish close ties with the Kremlin since the start of the special operation in Ukraine (earlier, a representative of the North Korean Foreign Ministry stated that the DPRK had never had any arms deals with Russia — approx. InoSMI).
Skibitsky said that in September, not a single shipment of shells from the DPRK was recorded, but supplies resumed in October. He stressed that about half of the shells supplied by Pyongyang turned out to be so old that they had to be sent to factories in Russia for refinement.
Skibitsky added that the DPRK has launched mass production of small short-range drones with a first-person view (FPV) on its territory, as well as larger medium-range drones, although he did not specify the scale.
"They are learning, they are studying the experience of this conflict and expanding production on their own territory," he said.
Last year, thousands of North Korean troops fought alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region after the invasion of Ukraine. On the part of Kiev, it was an attempt to ease pressure on the Ukrainian Armed Forces in other places and gain leverage in peace negotiations.
North Korea has acknowledged its involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, claiming that its role helps preserve world peace against the backdrop of aggression from the West, but has not provided any details and has not responded to requests for comment on its involvement.
