Sumy, Oct 5: Russia has launched a drone attack on a large pharmaceutical plant in Ukraine owned by the Indian ‘Kusum Group’. One person died and several others were injured in the incident.
The main building of the pharmaceutical plant, located in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, has been largely destroyed. Officials have stated that the casualty figures may change. Visuals of the attack show thick smoke billowing from the site where the drone struck.
The Kusum Group began operations in 1994 as a distributor exporting Indian medicines to Ukraine. It is currently managed by an Indian national, Rajeev Gupta.
In 2002, the company stopped distributing products from other firms and began introducing its own brands to the market. Subsequently, the company entered the manufacturing sector, establishing plants in India in 2007 and in Sumy, Ukraine, in 2009. Later, it set up two additional manufacturing units in India. The group manufactures over 50 products (primarily generics) and sells them in more than nine countries—most notably Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the Philippines. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared news of the incident on the social media platform X and condemned the Russian attack. He also expressed his condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased.