Russia’s $20 Million Hunt for Ukraine’s Drone Chief “Madyar”

Russia is reportedly offering $20 million through post-Soviet criminal networks for information revealing the whereabouts of Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, according to The Wall Street Journal on September 25.

Members of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces told the newspaper that the Kremlin has made Brovdi one of its highest-priority targets because of the effectiveness of Ukrainian drone operations, prompting extraordinary security measures around both the commander and his staff.

Russian courts have also convicted Brovdi in absentia on what Moscow calls “terrorism” charges tied to Ukrainian military operations and sentenced him to lengthy prison terms.

Brovdi has commanded Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces since June 2025. Although the branch represents roughly 2.5% of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, it has been credited with inflicting around one-third of Russian battlefield losses over the past year, according to figures cited in the WSJ reporting.

The threat against Brovdi has made secrecy around his movements especially strict. According to accounts of the WSJ interview, the journalist was transported to meetings in a vehicle with darkened windows to conceal the route to classified locations in southeastern Ukraine.

For Brovdi, however, the attention from Moscow reflects the scale of damage Ukrainian drone forces are inflicting on Russian troops.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has killed 79 members of Brovdi’s Birds of Madyar unit. Their names are engraved on a wall near the entrance to the unit’s command center.

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Brovdi calculated that for every one of those fallen Ukrainian fighters, his forces have killed or wounded 656 Russian troops.

“I don’t consider that exchange rate good enough,” Madyar said.

Earlier, Brovdi reported that Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces have targeted 412 energy infrastructure sites in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories and inside Russia since launching the “Crimean Switch Off” operation in July.

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