Russia plans to manufacture up to 120,000 of its inexpensive glide bombs this year, capable of causing widespread devastation, a senior Ukrainian intelligence official said, including 500 of a new, longer-range version that can reach more towns and cities.

Russia has massively increased arms production since its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with defense plants operating around the clock. It does not disclose details of military production, which is classified as secret.

Reuters could not verify the 2025 target, which Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, revealed in an interview.

He did not say how he had obtained the figure nor did he give previous data, but it would indicate a large increase in the manufacture of glide bombs, which use wings, and sometimes engines, to fly tens of kilometers to their targets.

The figure of 120,000 includes new munitions and existing bombs improved for gliding.

According to Skibitskyi, Russian forces fire between 200 and 250 glide bombs a day. Last month, the daily average was about 170, according to data from the Ministry of Defense.

“It is possible to shoot them down, but the number of these aerial bombs produced in the Russian Federation (...) is enormous,” Skibitskyi said. “This is a threat. A threat that will require us to respond appropriately.”

Russia increases the range of glide bombs

The bombs, whose range was previously estimated at up to 90 kilometers, can break through Ukrainian defenses without sending aircraft across the front lines, where they would be shot down.

They are much cheaper and more abundant than missiles, and their hundreds of kilograms of explosives can penetrate buildings and fortifications. They have bombed frontline cities such as Kharkiv and Kherson.

Russia is launching mass production of a new glide bomb capable of traveling up to 200 km from the launch point from a fighter jet, Skibitskyi said, adding that it plans to manufacture about 500 by the end of this year.

Ukraine also believes that Russia is working on modifications to allow those bombs to fly up to 400 km, which would allow Moscow to attack even more Ukrainian towns and cities without using missiles, he said.

The glide bomb attacks in October in the regions of Mykolaiv, Poltava and Odessa, located at least tens of kilometers from the nearest front lines, have already demonstrated the ever-increasing reach of this weapon.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia denies targeting civilians, but thousands have been killed and wounded in the invasion. Moscow maintains that Kyiv's moves to ally with the West pose a threat to Russia and must be stopped.

Pressuring kyiv in peace talks

Skibitskyi also gave estimates on Russian drone production, which he said has allowed it to more effectively attack Ukraine's energy system.

In 2025, Russia will manufacture a total of about 70,000 long-range drones, he said, including 30,000 Shahed drones, which are the workhorse of Russian attacks.

“They started with 30 drones a month, now 30 can fly to a single target,” he said, expecting attacks on gas and energy infrastructure to continue into the Northern Hemisphere winter.

“They undoubtedly want to break us. This is destabilizing the internal situation,” he stated. Skibitskyi described it as one of the tools used to pressure Ukraine into a more accommodating position in any potential peace negotiations.

He also said that if Russian troops capture the besieged city of Pokrovsk, where street battles are currently taking place, they are likely to push towards the borders of the Donetsk region, their long-standing objective.

North Korea manufactures its own drones

The shipment of millions of rounds of artillery shells from North Korea helped Russia keep pace with battlefield fire in 2024, but Skibitskyi said the number had been cut by more than half this year as Pyongyang's stockpiles dwindled.

He cited a total supply of 6.5 million artillery shells to Russia since 2023 by North Korea, which seized the opportunity to strengthen ties with the Kremlin following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He said that no missile deliveries were recorded from North Korea in September, but some were in October, and that about half of the missiles supplied by Pyongyang were so old that they needed to go to plants in Russia to be upgraded.

Skibitskyi added that North Korea had begun mass production on its own territory of small, short-range First Person View (FPV) drones, as well as larger, medium-range battlefield attack drones, though he did not specify the scale.

“They are learning, they are studying their experience (in this war) to expand production in their own territory,” he said.