Russia has put a $20 million reward on the head of Maj. Robert ‘Magyar’ Brovdi, Ukraine’s drone warfare commander, according to reports citing Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. Moscow is said to have spread word of the bounty through post-Soviet criminal networks.

Brovdi founded ‘Magyar’s Birds’, now the 414th Separate Unmanned Systems Brigade, and has been promoted to Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, according to Ukrainian defence ministry listings. Russian courts convicted him in absentia on terrorism charges linked to Ukrainian military operations.

In March 2026, Moscow sentenced Brovdi to life in prison in absentia and offered the $20 million bounty for his capture, according to Le Monde. Le Figaro described him as the architect of Ukraine’s drone war.

The Wall Street Journal also reported the bounty and conviction, underscoring international attention on the drone campaign’s impact.

Context: the bounty highlights how central unmanned systems have become to the war, and how personally Moscow is targeting the officers leading Ukraine’s drone effort.