Iryna Terekh, a 34-year-old architect-turned-CEO of Fire Point, a Ukrainian drone manufacturer, has been leading the development of long-range attack drones to counter Russian aggression. With no prior defense industry experience, Terekh and her team have grown their production from 20 drones per month in 2022 to 300-400 per day, including cruise missiles with a reported range of over 1,000 miles. According to Terekh, Ukraine has launched twice as many long-range attack drones into Russia as Russia has launched into Ukraine, with 60% of those being manufactured by Fire Point. The company is now on the verge of deploying Ukraine's first ballistic missile capable of reaching Moscow.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Kyiv — Ukraine's most important weapons manufacturer wears mismatched earrings and a black knit dress.
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manufacturer → wear → earrings
"The good thing about being the boss is that you get to set the dress code," Iryna Terekh, the 34-year-old CEO of Fire Point, one of Ukraine's largest drone makers, told CBS News, grinning as she took a seat next to a model of one of the company's latest designs.
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she → get → designs
With her high heels, bright smile, and entourage of millennial assistants and executives, Terekh stands out in her factory, where throngs of middle-aged men lug drone parts, wield power tools and chain-smoke cigarettes.
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throngs → stand → tools
But she is hardly an exception in a country forced to reinvent itself since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.
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"When the full-scale invasion started, a lot of people had to review what could be their personal impact," she said.
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"You never really know what kind of knowledge and what kind of experience could be transformed and pivoted into something new."
Terekh's experience was in design and management.
Trained as an architect in the northern Ukrainian city of Irpin, she started building patios and outdoor furniture while also developing a successful high-performance concrete company.
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In the early months of 2022, Russian forces occupied Irpin, destroying roughly 70% of the city.
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forces → occupy → city
"I understood how vulnerable we are to the complete barbarian behavior of our enemy," Terekh told CBS News.
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Terekh → understand → News
"And if there are any competences that I could put on the table for the sake of fighting this war, then I have to do this."
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After escaping Russian occupation, Terekh began looking for a way to help.
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In the fall of 2022, Russia started attacking Ukrainian cities with Iranian-made, long-range Shahed exploding drones.
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Russia → start → drones
It also started manufacturing its own versions, known as Gerans.
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Terekh and Ukrainian businessman Denys Shtilerman, whom she had worked with designing outdoor urban spaces before the war, decided to build their own long-range attack drones to help Ukraine strike back.
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Ukraine → work → drones
Shtilerman had a background in defense engineering, but most other initial members of the team, including Terekh, came from civilian backgrounds.
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members → have → backgrounds
At first, the company aimed to build 20 of its FP-1 drones per month.
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company → aim → month
By 2024, they were regularly being used to strike Russian airfields, ammunition depots and oil refineries.
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they → use → airfields
But over the last two years, the company's ambitions, and its arsenal, have grown.
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ambitions → grow → years
Fire Point now makes 300 to 400 long-range attack drones per day, and it has added more advanced weapons to its production lines.
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it → make → lines
In June, a Fire Point cruise missile completed a mission of over 1,000 miles, which she claimed as the longest-range strike ever carried out by a cruise missile in combat history.
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she → complete → history
Terekh also made the bold claim that Ukraine has launched twice as many
as Russia has into Ukraine in 2026 — with 60% of the Ukrainian attacks using Fire Point weapons.
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She said her company is now just months away from deploying Ukraine's first domestically designed and manufactured ballistic missile.
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company → say → missile
Unlike cruise missiles, which stay lower to the ground, ballistic missiles follow an arc trajectory that takes them much higher, making them harder to intercept.
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them → stay → them
Fire Point is among many Ukrainian startups that have helped to shift the country from being solely a recipient of military aid to an engine of defense technology innovation.
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that → help → innovation
Many other companies have similar, unlikely stories of their beginnings.
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The founder of Sine Engineering, which has attracted American investment in its communications and navigation technology, ran a business making standing desks before the war.
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which → attract → war
Yaroslav Azhnyuk, founder of the Fourth Law, which makes autonomous guidance systems for drones, previously founded Petcube, a pet tech startup backed by the American business accelerator Y Combinator.
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which → make → accelerator
Terekh believes these companies, with their founders' diverse backgrounds outside the defense sector and their shared ability to pivot to new endeavors, have been key to their successes.
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companies → believe → successes
"This works in Ukraine because we have very low bureaucracy, because we have direct communication with the army, and because we have companies that react," she said.
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she → work → companies
The country's innovative approach to defense manufacturing and procurement has also attracted the attention of its allies.
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approach → attract → allies
In 2025, the U.S. military announced its own program to copy Iran's Shahed drones, known as "LUCAS," which deployed its first relatively cheap long-range drones in the Middle East in February.
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which → announce → February
The U.S. and Ukrainian governments are expected to sign a
soon that would expand Ukrainian military technology exports to the U.S. and joint ventures with American companies.
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that → expect → companies
Terekh said Fire Point's primary focus remains on Ukraine's defense, but she welcomed the idea of one day playing a role in a new, wider Western security architecture.
"We need to ensure that Ukraine will stop just being a breadbasket for the world," she said, referring to the country's longtime primary export of grains.
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she → say → grains
"Now we have something to offer which is much more valuable, and the defense industry is a huge driver for this."
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industry → have → this
