A pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Ukraine's Sumy belonging to India's Kusum Group was severely damaged in a Russian drone attack, with one person killed and several others injured, according to officials.
The main structure of the facility has been mostly destroyed, while the number of casualties and injured could change as authorities assess the damage. Visuals from the site showed a huge plume of smoke rising from the area where the drones struck.
The attack has caused significant damage to a plant that Kusum continued to operate throughout the Russia-Ukraine war. The loss is estimated to be at least ₹400 crore.
Kusum's roots in India
The Kusum Group began in 1994 as a distributor exporting Indian medicines to Ukraine and is currently run by Indian national Rajeev Gupta.
In 2002, the group stopped distributing medicines made by other companies and began marketing its own brands. It subsequently entered manufacturing, opening its first plant in India in 2007 and a facility in Sumy, Ukraine, in 2009, followed by two more manufacturing facilities in India.
Kusum describes itself as a Ukrainian pharmaceutical company with Indian roots. Its official website lists Kusum Pharm's Sumy facility as one of its manufacturing sites, alongside plants in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, and Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh. The company says its manufacturing units are WHO-GMP certified and PIC/S compliant.
The group manufactures more than 50 mostly generic products and sells them in over nine countries, with Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and the Philippines among its principal markets.
The Sumy plant has previously been described by the company as one of Ukraine's modern pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. In 2023, Kusum said the plant employed more than 500 people and manufactured generic medicines across several therapeutic categories, including cardiology, gastroenterology, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive and paediatric medicines. The company had said production continued despite the full-scale war.
Kusum has faced earlier wartime damage
The Sumy strike is not the first major wartime blow to Kusum's Ukrainian operations.
In April 2025, a Kusum Group pharmaceutical warehouse in Kyiv was completely destroyed after a direct hit by a Russian drone, according to the company. It said the warehouse contained finished medicines, active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients and newly installed production equipment, with the damage estimated at about 1 billion Ukrainian hryvnias. No employees were injured in that attack.
Kusum's Ukrainian operation has continued to maintain a manufacturing presence despite repeated attacks. The company's current information lists its Sumy plant at 54 Skriabyna Street in the city.
Russian drone campaign intensifies
The latest attack comes amid sustained Russian drone strikes across Ukraine. Since the summer, Moscow has launched dozens of fast, relatively inexpensive, jet-powered Shahed drones daily, while Ukrainian air defence units have faced difficulties intercepting some of the faster systems because certain interceptor drones were unable to catch them.
Industrial and civilian facilities in Sumy have repeatedly come under attack. On October 3, Russian forces struck civilian enterprises in the Kovpakivsky district of Sumy with four guided bombs, with impacts recorded at two locations in an industrial zone. Ukrainian authorities said there were no casualties in that attack.
The broader pattern has also included strikes on businesses. In August, Ukraine's foreign ministry said Russian drone strikes damaged a Mondelēz International facility in the Sumy region and injured several employees.
Ukraine unveils new ballistic missile
Ukraine also announced this week the first combat use of its domestically produced FP-7 ballistic missile. The weapon has an approximate range of 250 km.
The development comes as Kyiv seeks to expand its ability to strike targets at greater distances while strengthening its domestic defence industry amid the continuing war.