Russia Condemns Japanese Cooperation With Ukraine Drone Developers

MOSCOW - Japan has contributed to the killing of Russian civilians through its cooperation with Ukrainian drone developers, further worsening bilateral relations, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said on Saturday, July 19.

"Given Ukraine's systematic terrorist provocations using UAVs against civilian targets on Russian territory, we qualify such cooperation with the Kyiv regime as an openly hostile action. Ukrainian drones are killing Russian civilians, and Tokyo is helping them do so," Rudenko said in an interview with the TASS news agency.

Moscow's Warning to Tokyo

Rudenko said Russia was closely monitoring the development of cooperation between Japanese drone manufacturers and Ukrainian developers of combat drones. He added that Japan's deepening involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict was further eroding the already strained relations between Moscow and Tokyo, and warned that Japan's policy towards Ukraine could carry long-term consequences for ties between the two countries.

Japan joined other Western nations in imposing sanctions on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and relations between the two countries have deteriorated sharply since. The two neighbours have never signed a formal peace treaty to end World War II, owing to a long-running territorial dispute over a chain of islands known in Russia as the Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories.

The Terra Drone Deal

The latest condemnation follows a diplomatic dispute earlier this year over a proposed investment by a Japanese company in a Ukrainian drone maker. In April, Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned the Japanese ambassador in Moscow, Akira Muto, to protest a strategic investment by Tokyo-based Terra Drone Corporation in Amazing Drones, a Kharkiv-based firm that develops and manufactures interceptor drones.

The Japanese company said it would launch a line of Terra A1 interceptor drones together with Amazing Drones, systems designed to counter the one-way attack drones that Russia has used widely in its war against Ukraine. Moscow slammed the deal as "overly hostile and detrimental" to its security interests, while Muto rebutted the protest, according to Japanese media reports. Analysts have suggested the Russian objection signals concern that Tokyo may be moving towards closer cooperation with Kyiv's defence sector and could be preparing to ease its long-standing restrictions on weapons exports.

Intensifying Drone Warfare

The remarks came amid a continued intensification of drone warfare between the two sides. Russia's Ministry of Defence said its air defence systems had shot down 774 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones and 13 guided aerial bombs over a 24-hour period. Earlier on Saturday, regional officials said 24 people had been injured after a drone crashed onto the premises of a warehouse in Elektrostal, near Moscow.

The Russian military said its forces had carried out another overnight round of strikes using air-launched precision-guided weapons and attack drones against Ukrainian military-related targets, including port infrastructure at Odesa used for unloading fuel and lubricants, as well as fuel storage facilities. The escalating exchanges underscore the central role that drones now play on both sides of the conflict, and the growing international dimension of the technology race behind them.