Russia is significantly expanding its production of guided aerial bombs using imported parts, according to a Ukrainian defence study seen by The Kyiv Independent.
The findings by the Center for Defense Reforms, a Kyiv think tank, indicate that Moscow plans to sustain high-intensity warfare against Ukraine over an extended period. Most of the commercial entities supplying the munitions programme remain free from Western sanctions.
Analysts at the organisation warned that guided aerial bombs play a critical role in destroying fortified defensive positions, cutting off battlefield supply routes and supporting ground advances. They concluded that this manufacturing push provides the industrial base needed for prolonged offensive operations.
In 2025 alone, the Russian company TRV-Engineering purchased nearly 278,000 servomotors designed to control flight surfaces on aerial bombs. Researchers calculated that this shipment contains enough actuators to manufacture roughly 139,000 guided munition conversion kits.
The report identified CED Sail LLC as a primary Russian supplier of these servomotors. Because the firm currently faces no Western sanctions, the researchers urged allied governments to make it an urgent priority for trade restrictions.
Oleksandr Danylyuk, the head of the Center for Defense Reforms, said Russia is expanding its military-industrial capacity to ensure it can wage wars even after the fighting in Ukraine concludes. He warned that such investments contradict the behaviour of a nation preparing for lasting peace.
Sanctions gaps and foreign components
Russian forces rely heavily on wing conversion kits known as UMPK and UMPB, which turn unguided Soviet-era gravity bombs into precision-guided glide weapons. The kits add aerodynamic wings and satellite navigation systems, allowing warplanes to release them from high altitude tens of kilometres behind the front line. That extended reach enables Russian pilots to strike targets while remaining outside the interception envelope of many Ukrainian air defence batteries.
These glide kits depend heavily on imported microelectronics and precision parts. Ukrainian military intelligence has identified foreign-manufactured components inside recovered Russian aerial bombs, tracing parts back to the United States, Japan, China, Switzerland and Taiwan.
Despite these discoveries, international restrictions remain porous. Out of 20 companies linked directly to the Russian guided aerial bomb supply chain, only eight are subject to any form of Western sanctions or export curbs.
Researchers highlighted four Chinese enterprises that play a critical role in shipping components to Russian manufacturers. Only one of those four Chinese businesses faces United States export controls, while none have been sanctioned by the European Union or the United Kingdom.
Danylyuk stressed that while the Kremlin regularly issues public statements claiming an interest in peace negotiations, Russia continues to aggressively expand the assembly of offensive weaponry, with guided aerial bombs at the centre of that build-up.
Battlefield impact along the front line
Russian aviation has increasingly deployed guided aerial bombs as a replacement for heavy artillery, according to reports by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.
A senior lieutenant in the Ukrainian defence forces, known by the call sign Alex, said the Russian tactic has proven painfully effective on the battlefield. Russian jets frequently drop four guided bombs in a single sortie, leveling defensive strongholds and striking with an accuracy that matches standard artillery barrages.
Alex pointed out that Ukrainian forces do not yet possess a weapon that combines comparable explosive power with low manufacturing costs, leaving Kyiv without an equivalent system to menace Russian troop positions on a regular basis.
