Russian Embassy in Lisbon Names Tekever and Beyond Vision by Name — Kremlin Puts Portugal's Drone Unicorns on Its 'Target List' After Nuno Melo's Paris Denial

The Russian embassy in Lisbon has publicly rebutted Portugal's Defence Minister, naming two Portuguese defence companies — Tekever and Beyond Vision — and accusing Lisbon of bearing “full responsibility for the EU’s anti-Russian policy”. The statement, released on 20 April and picked up by TASS, lands as Moscow publishes what Euronews has called a “target list” of European drone manufacturers supplying Ukraine.

The diplomatic squall starts in Paris. On 19 April, during a visit to France alongside French counterparts, Nuno Melo told reporters that the Kremlin’s warning — that European countries assisting Ukraine with unmanned aerial vehicles could face escalation — did not concern Portugal. The embassy’s note contradicts him point by point.

What the embassy actually said

The statement, attributed by Russian state outlets to the embassy in Lisbon, claims that “national defence companies Tekever and Beyond Vision openly cooperate with the Kiev regime” and that “private initiatives to assemble UAVs for the Ukrainian armed forces are also being implemented on Portuguese territory”. The message is unusual on two counts: it names private Portuguese companies directly, and it escalates from a generic European warning to an explicit rebuke aimed at the minister’s denial.

For Lisbon, the substance is harder to dismiss than the rhetoric. Tekever’s AR5 reconnaissance drones have been flying in Ukraine since at least 2023, and the company has a local office in Kyiv. Beyond Vision’s smaller tactical systems have been confirmed in operational use by Ukrainian units in 2026. Both companies have spoken publicly about their role.

The industrial context

Tekever crossed a billion-dollar valuation in April 2025 — Portugal’s first defence unicorn — and its drones have now logged more than 50,000 flight hours on the Eastern front, according to figures the company has shared with Ukrainian media. The firm also holds a contract to build drones for the British Armed Forces, and has been chosen to take over coastal surveillance for Portugal itself.

Beyond Vision, based in Ílhavo, operates in a lighter class of reconnaissance quadcopters and is the anchor of Portugal’s broader UAV cluster. It will feature alongside Tekever at next week’s ASD Convention in Lisbon, where more than 300 defence executives gather on 27-29 April to set Europe’s post-2027 procurement agenda.

Why the timing matters

Portugal is simultaneously raising its defence spending toward 5% of GDP by 2029 and enlarging its armed forces by 3,700 personnel, as Nuno Melo outlined to Parliament on 21 April. The Law of Major Options 2025-2029 explicitly lists a sovereign drone capability as a Portuguese industrial priority. That posture makes it politically impossible for the government to distance itself from Tekever or Beyond Vision — which is precisely what Moscow is testing.

Kyiv Post reported earlier this month that former US officials are reading the Kremlin’s list of European drone firms as an intimidation campaign aimed at slowing down private production rather than a genuine escalation threat. The calculus for Lisbon is the same it is for Copenhagen, Riga and Tallinn: nuisance diplomacy from the embassy, insurance and security cost for the companies themselves.

What happens next

The Portuguese government has offered no further comment beyond Nuno Melo’s Paris line. Tekever and Beyond Vision have not responded publicly to the embassy’s statement. The practical next step sits with Portugal’s Serviços de Informações — protective measures around drone facilities, staff security, and the supply chains that run through the Lisbon metropolitan area — rather than with a ministerial reply that would simply escalate the rhetorical loop Moscow has opened.

The quiet truth is that Portuguese drones are now an integral part of the European answer to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the Kremlin has stopped pretending otherwise.