Inside Ukraine’s Secret Weapons Programme: Meet the Woman Behind Russia’s Drone and Missile Strikes

Irina Terk, a 34-year-old Ukrainian entrepreneur, heads one of Eastern Europe’s most secretive defence operations. As the leader of Ukraine’s largest private security company, Terk oversees the development and deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles that have become instrumental in Ukraine’s strikes deep inside Russian territory.

The operations under Terk’s purview represent a significant escalation in Ukraine’s asymmetric warfare strategy against Russia. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian forces have developed increasingly sophisticated drone and missile capabilities that have targeted Russian military installations, infrastructure, and logistics hubs far beyond the conventional battlefield.

Terk’s company operates in a grey area between private enterprise and state military operations, a model that has become increasingly common among Ukrainian defence contractors. The arrangement allows Ukraine’s government some operational distance whilst maintaining effective control over strategic weapons programmes. These drones and missiles have struck targets across Russian territory, including airbases, ammunition depots, and command centres.

The development of these weapons systems reflects Ukraine’s innovation under wartime pressure. Ukrainian engineers and technicians have adapted commercially available components and repurposed Soviet-era technology to create relatively low-cost but effective unmanned systems. This approach has allowed Ukraine to inflict significant damage on Russian military assets whilst managing limited resources and international weapons supplies.

Source: Maariv — Original article in Hebrew.