In the secret test facility, drone manufacturers of Ukraine are afraid

In a secret place, far from prying eyes, Ukrainian engineers test a long -distance drone called Raybird.

The machine, which looks like a mini aircraft with wings, is launched, stretched as a crossbow arrow and then shot in the air.

Raybird can fly non-stop in more than 20 hours and cover a distance of over 1000 km (620 miles). It performs missions to destroy targets both on the front line and deep in Russia.

Among their goals are oil refineries and fuel depots.

But since Russia and Ukraine have reached separate agreements with the United States on a partial termination of fire, missions such as these must stop.

In addition to agreeing to sea reconciliation in the Black Sea after talks this week in Saudi Arabia, the two countries have committed themselves to stopping to attack the other’s energy infrastructure – something that has already been theoretically agreed.

Ukraine President Volodimir Zelenski said Ukraine would apply these agreements immediately.

Skyeton Olexius, the Raybird company, doubts that Moscow will stick to the cessation of fire.

“(The Russians hit you in the face, then the next day they conclude an agreement, but they want to tie your hands. So the opportunity for them to continue to fight remains,” Olexius explains.

Still, this deal will also bring relief to Russia.

It is estimated that this year alone Ukraine carried out more than 30 attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure using drones and other weapons.

They have recently hit some of the largest oil facilities in the country, such as the UFA Oil refinery about 1500 km (932 miles) from the front line and the TUAPSE plant in the Krasnodar area.

The Russian oil refining capacity has dropped by about 10% as a result of drone attacks, according to Reuters.

And Moscow’s recent decision to expand the prohibition of oil exports shows that they feel the pain.

Ukraine’s arsenal for deep blows only grows. President Zelenski recently announced that Ukrainian engineers have designed a drone that has a range of 3000 km (1860 miles). This means that it can reach not only Moscow, but even places in Siberia.

Kyiv also claims that he has developed turbojet rocket kunas. They fly at much higher speed and are therefore difficult to capture.

Zelenski said Ukraine successfully tested its first home -made ballistic weapon and upgraded its cruise rocket Neptune to hit the ground as well as naval goals. This rocket is reported to have been used to attack the Russian air base in the southern city of Engels last week, although Ukrainian officials neither confirm nor deny these reports.

The deal to terminate the energy fire is certainly good news for Ukraine as well. Russia ruthlessly heads to its power plants and stations across the country. At one point last year, the capacity to generate energy in Ukraine dropped to one -third of its pre -war level.

Last month, when the temperatures dropped below zero, the Russian drones hit a thermal power plant in Mikolai in southern Ukraine. A few days later, another massive air attack left more than 250,000 Odessa residents without power and heating.

And lately, there have been an increasing number of attacks on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure. Regular goals include underground gas storage facilities in Western Ukraine and production facilities in the central and eastern parts of the country.

The aim of Moscow is to reduce gas production in Ukraine, which is crucial for the country’s energy security, says Artem Petrenko, CEO of the Association of Gas Producers of Ukraine.

At the end of March, gas storage facilities in Ukraine were only about 4% full, According to one observation groupS

And if Russia continues its blows, filling these storage facilities will be extremely challenging, which will potentially lead to massive problems next winter.

Back to the test platform, after a few laps, Raybird opens its parachutes and successfully lands in the field.

Oleksiy is pleased with the results. He says that although it is good to end the fire, they still cannot afford to peak their work and the development of new weapons.

“Our enemy just wants to rest, to gather strength and to attack again,” he says. “We must be ready for it.”