LPP Holding, whose drone production in the Czech Republic was set on fire by an “anti-Israel group,” did not supply products to Israel, but supplies Ukraine

Photo: Czech police

On the morning of March 20, unknown persons set fire to the premises of the Czech company LPP Holding, whose main activity is the production of drones. On the same day, a previously unmentioned “anti-Israel group”, The Earthquake Faction, claimed responsibility.

The head of the external relations department of LPP Holding, Martina Tauberova, in response to a request from The Insider, said that the company has never collaborated with Israeli companies and has not supplied supplies to Israel, but supplies Ukraine:

“LPP Holding did not participate in any projects, enter into contracts or have active cooperation with Israeli companies, including Elbit Systems, or with Israeli government agencies or intermediaries. Although negotiations have been considered in the past, no agreements have been reached and no cooperation has taken place.

LPP Holding has not supplied its products, technologies or components to Israel, either directly or indirectly.

LPP Holding supplies its products and technologies to support Ukraine. The company entered into contracts with Ukrainian partners, and our sophisticated, fully autonomous unmanned systems were deployed in real combat conditions. They are equipped with proprietary, advanced optical navigation that makes our expendable attack drone resistant to electronic warfare, while also providing a valuable deep-strike capability.”

At the same time, Tauberova emphasized that LPP Holding had not previously encountered threats of this kind.

The Earthquake Faction has not previously been mentioned publicly. Currently, the group’s media presence is limited to the website on which the statement and video of the arson are posted, and the Telegram channel created the day before the action. At the same time, Telegram is not very popular both in the Czech Republic and in the EU countries as a whole - usually activist groups first of all create pages in popular or, conversely, decentralized social networks, but not in Telegram.

The Insider also noted that the group uses email on the Proton service. This is atypical for radical left activist groups in Europe, which are more likely to use activist email servers.

However, the fire did not affect supplies to Ukraine, reported the Czech initiative “Gift for Putin,” which is raising funds for the purchase of drones:

“In connection with the terrorist attack in Pardubice, we want to publicly repeat the information that we again confirmed with the owners of LPP last night. The fire will not affect the planned delivery of MTS 40 attack drones to Ukraine. Fundraising is coming to an end. Thanks everyone."

According to emergency services, the warehouse that was engulfed in fire contained mostly construction materials rather than production equipment. The fire was contained within a few hours and was completely extinguished in the afternoon.

LPP Holding has previously attracted the attention of Russian propaganda media. For example, in May 2025, Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote about it: “The Czech Republic transferred hundreds of drones with artificial intelligence to Ukraine.”

Due to the arson attack on the drone production, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis canceled his trip to Budapest, where he was supposed to meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the right-wing conservative forum CPAC. Babis also spoke about the need for arms companies to ensure their own security.

Babis also recalled the explosions in Vrbetica in 2014, which killed two people and destroyed tens of tons of weapons. Czech authorities later said that members of the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU), including Anatoly Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin, known for the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in the UK, were behind the sabotage. According to an investigation by The Insider and Bellingcat, the operation was coordinated by the commander of GRU military unit No. 29155, General Andrei Averyanov, and included several participants, some of whom acted under diplomatic cover. The Czech Republic subsequently expelled Russian diplomats and accused Moscow of organizing the bombings.

ARTICLES ON THE TOPIC

• Diplomats with a bomb. How the GRU blew up an arms depot in the Czech Republic
• From “illegals” to “psycho-operations”: how GRU activity is changing in Europe
• An enterprise producing drones for Ukraine was set on fire in the Czech Republic. An "anti-Israel group" claimed responsibility for the attack.

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