Dorozvidka #27: UGV rescues a cat, drone versus helicopter, and also Chmut, Veres, General Cherry, Bezsudna, Terekh, and Sine Engineering

Alongside a line-up of serious interviews and talks, Dorozvidka #27 also features a couple of uplifting stories. Among them — how the Khartia unit evacuated a frontline cat nicknamed Prapor with the help of a ground drone, and a video showing a $500 Ukrainian FPV drone Shrike taking down a $10 million Russian Mi-8 helicopter.

Also in this issue:

• A conversation between Taras Chmut and Kyrylo Veres at Defense Tech Valley 2025
• An interview with Sine Engineering co-founder Andrii Chulyk and TEKEVER Ukraine CEO Kateryna Bezsudna
• A video featuring General Cherry co-founder Rudolf Akopyan
• Insights from the Fire Point press conference – the manufacturer of Flamingo missiles and FP-1 deep-strike drones

Conversation with Chmut and Veres at Defense Tech Valley 2025

The UT-2 channel published a video of a talk between Come Back Alive foundation head Taras Chmut and “K-2 regiment commander Kyrylo Veres. They discussed cooperation between manufacturers and the military, the benefits of competition in the defence tech market, the R&D direction at “Come Back Alive”, and the need to scale up defence technologies.

CEO of Sine Engineering on the development of defence tech and scaling the company

The DOU portal published an interview with Sine Engineering CEO Andrii Chulyk. He explained the difference between a drone swarm and group control, which technologies may define the future of war, and how the company plans to expand and recruit radio engineers abroad.

Earlier, Defender Media published an in-depth article on Sine Engineering, featuring interviews with Chulyk and his project partner Andrii Zvirko.

Blitz interview with Kateryna Bezsudna

A week ago, Defender Media reported that Defence Builder accelerator co-founder Kateryna Bezsudna had become head of the Ukrainian office of a European unicorn developing unmanned technologies.

DOU has now published a blitz interview with Bezsudna. She spoke about her new role, TEKEVER’s plans in Ukraine, and the challenges facing Ukrainian defence tech startups.

What’s new with General Cherry

At Defense Tech Valley 2025, “Militarnyi” interviewed co-founder and Director of Strategic Communications Rudolf Akopyan. He spoke about:

• Interceptor drones developed by General Cherry;
• The company’s FPV-over-fibre proposals;
• A 15-inch FPV drone currently undergoing codification.

Fire Point press conference at MSPO 2025

At the MSPO 2025 defence exhibition, Ukrainian company Fire Point held a press conference attended by Militarnyi. During the briefing, Fire Point CTO Iryna Terekh shared the company’s achievements and future plans for the Flamingo cruise missile and announced the development of ballistic missiles.

Terekh noted that FP-1 drones account for 60% of deep-strike attacks against Russian rear areas. As for the FP-5 Flamingo missile, it flies at altitudes of up to 50 metres. She also announced the creation of a cluster warhead for Flamingo.

Khartia evacuated a cat from the frontline using a UGV

In the Kharkiv sector, soldiers of the “Khartia” brigade’s rapid response company carried out a successful mission to evacuate a cat from the frontline using a ground robotic complex.

In its press release, the brigade stated that the cat had spent a considerable amount of time with the soldiers at positions near the line of contact north of Kharkiv, sharing their daily lives and the harsh realities of war. “He became a true comrade-in-arms, received the nickname ‘Prapor’, and, according to the soldiers, is fully worthy of combatant status,” the statement said.

The soldiers eventually decided it was time to return “Prapor” to everyday feline life. To do so, they used the UGV. First, the ground drone completed a logistics mission, delivering supplies to the positions. Then it returned to the unit’s base carrying a pet carrier with the cat inside.

The evacuation mission lasted three hours. “Prapor” was brought back unharmed, according to the corps’ press service. He is now with the unit and gradually adapting to a new stage of life.

Hyzhaky Vysot downed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter with an FPV drone

On 29 September, a drone from the Hyzhaky Vysot (“High-Altitude Predators”) battalion of the 59th Separate Assault Brigade destroyed a Russian Mi-8 attack helicopter worth over $10 million. The operation was carried out by the Baltika crew, who downed the aircraft with a small $500 FPV Shrike drone. Reconnaissance drones coordinated the strike. The video of the successful attack was published on the battalion’s Telegram channel.