Thermal Imager Production of Ukrainian Company Archer Set on Fire in Czechia

In the Czech city of Pardubice, on March 20, “pro-Palestinian activists” set fire to a facility producing thermal imagers for the Ukrainian company Archer, rather than a drone production site as previously reported.

Archer’s CEO Oleksandr Yaremenko shared this information on Facebook.

“Friends! I would like to inform you that last night, our company in Czechia, Archer-LPP, was deliberately set on fire by a group of masked individuals. I assure our partners that all contractual obligations will be fulfilled. Products will be delivered on time,” he said.

The fire broke out on Friday morning on Delnicka Street, in an industrial area. According to CT24, a warehouse hangar burned down, and the fire also affected a nearby administrative building.

Archer relocated production to Pardubice after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, establishing Archer-LPP as part of LPP Holding.

Company representatives said a possible Russian link to the attack cannot be ruled out.

“Unfortunately, almost all production was destroyed, including items in production and finished goods in the warehouse,” said Olha Duplichuk, a representative of Archer-LPP.

At the same time, according to firefighters, the hangar itself did not contain production facilities. It was mainly used to store construction materials intended for future reconstruction.

The fire was claimed by the “pro-Palestinian activist group Earthquake Faction,” which stated that it targeted weapons production linked to Israel.

LPP Holding brings together technology companies engaged in the development, production and integration of solutions for military and civilian sectors. Its activities include unmanned systems, ground equipment, avionics, AI-based facial and object recognition, as well as rail transport equipment.

Several years ago, LPP Holding announced plans to produce and develop drones in Pardubice together with the Israeli company Elbit Systems. However, production of Israeli drones at the LPP Holding facility never began, and the planned cooperation did not materialize.

This is not the first time pro-Palestinian activists targeted military equipment intended for Ukraine. In June 2025, about 150 activists from the Stop Arming Israel movement, wearing masks and white overalls, stormed the premises of the private defense company OIP in Tournai, Belgium, and damaged military equipment prepared for shipment to Ukraine.

Freddy Versluys, the company’s CEO, reported that the group used angle grinders and hammers to destroy production equipment and military hardware.

“They searched our offices, destroyed computers, and then went to the workshops, where they seriously damaged several machines. They went wild with paint cans and hammers,” he shared at the time.

The company estimated the damage at about €1 million and noted that the attack would delay weapons deliveries to Ukraine by at least a month.