Sumy: A pharmaceutical manufacturing facility linked to India’s Kusum Group in Ukraine’s Sumy region has been largely destroyed in a Russian drone attack, killing one person and leaving several others injured, according to reports. The strike has inflicted an estimated loss of at least rs 400 crore, dealing a major blow to a company that continued operating in Ukraine throughout the Russia-Ukraine war.
The main structure of the Kusum facility was severely damaged in the attack, with visuals from the site showing a massive plume of smoke rising after the strike. Officials said the casualty count could change as assessment and rescue operations continue.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attacks, saying Russian forces had targeted a pharmaceutical facility in Sumy. He said Russia had launched 135 attack drones overnight, including more than 50 jet powered drones, against several Ukrainian regions. According to Zelenskyy, Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia came under attack.
The strike comes as Russia continues to intensify its use of drones against Ukraine. Ukrainian air defences have faced increasing difficulties countering newer, faster jet powered systems, adding another layer of danger for civilian and industrial infrastructure.
The destruction is particularly significant for the Kusum Group because the Sumy facility was not a new wartime investment. The group established its Ukrainian manufacturing plant in 2009, after beginning its operations in the country in 1994 by exporting Indian medicines.
Kusum is currently led by Indian national Rajeev Gupta. The company has Indian roots while operating as a Ukrainian pharmaceutical business. It manufactures more than 50 predominantly generic medicines and markets its products in more than nine countries, with Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and the Philippines among its key markets.
The latest attack is not the first major wartime blow suffered by Kusum in Ukraine. In April 2025, a Kusum pharmaceutical warehouse in Kyiv was destroyed in a separate attack. The company said the warehouse contained finished medicines, active pharmaceutical ingredients, manufacturing excipients and newly installed production equipment, putting the damage at around UAH 1 billion. No employees were injured in that incident.
Russia subsequently disputed responsibility for the Kyiv warehouse incident, with its embassy in India suggesting Ukrainian air defence missiles may have fallen on the facility.
For Kusum, however, the Sumy strike represents a far more serious setback a key manufacturing site has suffered extensive physical destruction, one person has died and the preliminary financial loss has already crossed hundreds of crores.
The full extent of the damage and the final casualty figure are expected to become clearer as authorities assess the site.
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