3 Years Ago It Was a Casting Agency. Now It Has $1 Billion in Drone Contracts.

New York Times - WorldCenter-LeftEN 7 min read 100% complete by Andrew E. KramerOctober 26, 2025 at 01:53 PM

AI Summary

long article 7 min

Fire Point, a Ukrainian defense startup that began as a film casting agency in 2022, has secured $1 billion in military drone contracts this year. The company, led by CEO Yehor Skalyha and CTO Iryna Terekh, manufactures long-range exploding drones from inexpensive materials at around 30 undisclosed locations across Ukraine. These drones are being deployed to target Russian oil refineries as part of a campaign aimed at inflicting economic damage on Russia. Fire Point is also developing a larger drone called the Flamingo for deeper strikes into Russian territory. Despite its rapid growth, the company has faced accusations of using connections to win contracts and has been subject to an anticorruption investigation.

Key Topics & Entities

Flamingo 40% Silicon Valley 50% Iryna Terekh 60% Russia ×270% Yehor Skalyha 70% Ukraine ×380% Volodymyr Zelensky 80% Fire Point ×7100%

Keywords

fire point 100% drone manufacturing 90% ukraine 80% $1 billion contracts 70% flamingo drone 60% defense start-ups 60% anticorruption investigation 50% russian oil refineries 50% volodymyr zelensky 50% wartime secrecy 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Neutral

Score: 0.10

Source Transparency

Source

New York Times - World

Political Lean

Center-Left (-0.30)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Ukraine

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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fire point drone manufacturing ukraine $1 billion contracts flamingo drone defense start-ups anticorruption investigation russian oil refineries volodymyr zelensky wartime secrecy

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