Ukraine destroys Russia’s Orion drones in occupied Crimea. ISW disproves Russian reports of the complete seizure of Luhansk region. A Japanese company is to invest USD 10 million in Ukraine’s defense sector and is to start with interceptor drones.
Ukraine destroys Russia’s Orion drones in occupied Crimea
Ukraine’s defense forces destroyed Russia’s four Orion drones and an arming point, as well as an An-72P aircraft and a P-37 Mech radar system at the Kirovskoye air base in occupied Crimea overnight on Thursday, Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, Major Robert Brovdi who goes by the call sign Magyar said on social media.
The operation was carried out by the 1st Center of Unmanned Systems, a unit within the Unmanned Systems Forces, and the 9th department of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. The drones “paid a courtesy visit” to a base and arming point of new and costly Orion reconnaissance and strike drones, Brovdi said.
The attack was carried out using Ukraine-made FP-2 drones armed with a warhead of 60 to 100 kilograms.
Orion is a drone that has a range of 250-300 kilometers and can stay in the air for 24 hours, Brovdi said. It conducts reconnaissance operations and can carry missiles or bombs weighing up to 250 kilograms at an altitude of up to 7.5 kilometers.
ISW disproves Russian reports of complete seizure of Luhansk region
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed on April 1 that Russian forces seized the entirety of Luhansk Oblast for the third time over the course of Russia’s full-scale invasion, even though Russian forces have controlled most of Luhansk Oblast since October 2022, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an update on Wednesday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the report.
ISW has observed evidence to assess that Russian forces control 99.84 percent of Luhansk Oblast as of April 1 but have not seized Nadiya and Novoyehorivka (both east of Borova).
Russian officials have repeatedly claimed that Russian forces control all of Luhansk Oblast throughout the war. Then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed in July 2022 that Russian forces seized the oblast, and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) Head Leonid Pasechnik made the same claim again in June 2025. Russian President Vladimir Putin later claimed in October 2025 that Ukrainian forces only maintained positions in 0.13 percent of Luhansk Oblast.
Russian forces have controlled most of Luhansk Oblast since Fall 2022, when the frontline in this area settled following the Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive. Kremlin claims in 2025 and 2026 about seizing the oblast are aggrandizing miniscule changes on the front in Luhansk Oblast in order to create the false impression that Russian forces are rapidly advancing on various sectors of the battlefield.
The Kremlin’s aggrandized claims about the seizure of Luhansk Oblast are part of a wider coordinated information campaign that aims to create a false sense of urgency to force Ukraine to cede unoccupied parts of Donetsk Oblast. The Russian MoD’s claim about Luhansk Oblast is part of the Kremlin’s ongoing cognitive warfare effort aimed at portraying Ukrainian defenses as on the verge of collapse to drive the United States and Ukraine’s other partners into forcing Ukraine to unnecessarily cede territory that Russian forces are very unlikely to seize militarily in the medium term, if at all.
Japanese company to invest USD 10 million in Ukraine’s defense sector, to start with interceptor drones
Japan’s Terra Drone Corporation has entered into a strategic partnership with Ukrainian company Amazing Drones, which designs and manufactures interceptor drones, Defender Media said Tuesday. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Terra Drone said it plans to expand its operations in Ukraine and leverage battlefield-proven experience to develop international projects. The company plans to invest around USD 10 million in Ukrainian projects.
The Japanese firm has entered the defense market this year and plans to expand operations in Ukraine and NATO countries. Amazing Drones’ interceptor drones have a range of up to 32 kilometers and can achieve a speed of up to 300 km/h, Defender Media said.