In February 2022, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi joined the Territorial Defense Forces and served as a platoon leader into 206th Battalion of the 112th Territorial Defense Brigade.
Following full-scale invasion of Ukraine, his small unit took part in the evacuation of civilians from Irpin during the battle for the city, and took part in fighting in Bucha and Borodianka. With the ukranian victory in the Kyiv front by April 2022, the battalion, now part of the 241st Territorial Defense Brigade, was relocated in the frontline active in the Kherson oblast.
Making most of his entrepreneurial skills and understanding the possibilities offered by drones, Brovdi raised funds to buy a “fleet of drones”, with which he set up the aerial reconnaissance unit “Birds of Madyar”, that operated incorporated 28th Mechanized Brigade. In August 2022 the small unit started operating the first FPV attack drones, and later took part in the battle that brought to the liberation of Kherson in november.
Following that campaign, the Birds fought for the defence of Bakhmut in early 2023, then being very often redeployed in critical sectors of the frontline, attached as a separate company into the 59th Motorized Brigade.
In January 2024 the unit was reorganized into the 414th Separate Battalion of Strike Unmanned Aviation Systems (SBSUAS), and was transferred to the Marine Corps of the Ukrainian Navy, starting the formation of the structural core repair, training, and support units. The Birds partecipated throughout all 8 months of harsh combats at the Krynky bridgehead in the left bank of the Dnipro river in Kherson oblast, and later carried out combat missions in Kharkiv Oblast.
By the end of June the battalion was expanded into a separate strike regiment within the structure of the 30th Marine Corps, established an UAV repair base and started the formation of a drone operator training schools, plus an EW and ELINT units.
From then on, Madyar’s Birds have been deployed in the Pokrovsk front, being a key element in favour of ukranian defences in one of the hottest sector of the frontline since mid 2024. Units of the 414th also have been carrying out combat missions in the Kursk front and Sumy oblast.
In December 2024 the regiment was expanded, becoming officially the 414th Unmanned Strike Aviation Brigade “Birds of Madyar”, and later was transferred from the Marine Corps to the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In June 2025 Robert Brovdi was appointed as the new commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, replaceing Vadym Sukharevskyi, the first leader of this newest branch of the Armed Forces. Subsequently, Leutenent Andriy Klimenko became the new commander of the brigade, that joined the Unmanned Systems Grouping of Forces (USFG).
In September 2025 the brigade was transferred from the Unmanned Systems of the Ground Forces, also known as the “Drone Line,” to the Unmanned Systems Forces, and finally received its battle flag in December.
In April 2026, the deep-strike Detachment “13” was formed as consolidated group of soldiers from 6th and 7th drone battalions of the brigade, cooperating with the 9th Drone Battalion “Kayros”, first mentioned in November 2025.
