The mysterious MICH-2000: how a Chinese drone became a Ukrainian long-range weapon
Ukraine is using the MICH-2000 long-range drone, which traces its roots to civilian UAVs purchased in China. The system is now operated exclusively by Ukraine's Security Service Special Operations Centre Alpha for strikes deep inside Russia.
In early August, Ukrainian forces struck the cargo ship Nadezhda near the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Footage of the attack quickly spread across social media and Telegram channels, but the drone visible in the strike did not match the well-known Ukrainian long-range systems Liutyi or FP-1. Instead, it closely resembled the Iranian-designed Shahed, prompting analysts to question its true origin.
This was not the first time Shahed-like drones had appeared in strikes on Russian territory. Among the possible candidates analysts considered were Egypt's Jabbar-150, Turkey's Troy T20 Block 20, and China's ZTK-150.
The real origin
As it turns out, the drone seen in the footage is the Ukrainian-made MICH-2000. Yet those who guessed it was a Chinese ZTK-150 were not entirely wrong either. The drone's story began thousands of kilometres from the front line — not in a Ukrainian workshop or design bureau, but at a factory in China. In late 2023, Ukrainian UAV developers travelled there to acquire ready-made civilian drones for military purposes.
At the time, no one could have predicted that trip would lay the groundwork for a Ukrainian long-range drone — the type of system that Ukrainian military officials, engineers and politicians commonly refer to as a "deep-strike" UAV.
Alpha's exclusive weapon
Today, the MICH is no longer simply a Chinese-made drone but a system operated exclusively by the Special Operations Centre Alpha of Ukraine's Security Service. It can fly up to 2,000 km and carry as much as 60 kg of explosives, and its record of strikes on targets inside Russia continues to grow.
Ukrainska Pravda visited the factory producing the MICH-2000 to tell, for the first time, how a search for Chinese-made drones led to the production of a Ukrainian long-range drone for Alpha.
