The 414th Strike UAV Brigade (414 OPUBAS) () is a unit of the

Ukrainian Marine Corps The Ukrainian Marine Corps (, ), also known simply as the Ukrainian Marines (), is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2023, responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations. From ...

, formed on January 16, 2024 on the basis of the company-tactical group "Birds of Magyar", which was under the command of

Robert Brovdi Robert Yosypovych Brovdi (; born 9 August 1975), commonly known by his call sign Madyar ( from ) is a Ukrainian soldier, politician, and businessman who is the founder of the Ukrainian military drone unit "Madyar's Birds" (). Early life and edu ...

("Magyar") as part of the 59th Motorized Brigade. Created as a battalion, it became the first separate unit of unmanned aerial vehicles in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The unit specializes in attack drones,

Signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

and Electronic warfare systems, remote mining, patrolling, and adjusting fire by using drones.

History

Birds of Magyar

The unit was founded by Ukrainian businessman

under the pseudonym "Magyar". On February 7, 2022, he joined the Territorial Defense Forces, where at the beginning of the

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

he performed combat missions as a platoon leader. In April, the unit was transferred to the Kherson direction, where he decided to engage in

aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or Strategy, strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including Artillery observer, artillery spott ...

and created "Birds of Magyar". The unit took part in the Battle of Bakhmut, where it held the defense for 110 days, until it was ordered to withdraw in March 2023. On January 16, 2024, according to Brovdi's report, the unit had fought for 692 days in battles for

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

, Krynky, Soledar, Bakhmut,

Avdiivka Avdiivka (, ; , ) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The city is located in the centre of the oblast, just north of the regional centre, Donetsk. The large Avdiivka Coke Plant is located in Avdiivka. The city had a population of before th ...

, Marinka and Urozhaine in

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast (), commonly referred to as Zaporizhzhia (), is an oblast (region) in south-east Ukraine. Its administrative centre is the city of Zaporizhzhia. The oblast covers an area of , and has a population of The oblast is an import ...

, 16 soldiers had received the Order for Courage.

As a separate military unit

On January 16, 2024, the unit was transferred from the 59th OMPBr to the Marine Corps as the 414th Marine UAV Strike Unmanned Systems Battalion (414 OBUBAS). At the end of June 2024, Brovdi reported that the battalion was reflagged to a regiment and reorganized with new structural elements: a unit for interception and destruction of UAVs, a unit for experimental unmanned systems and a unit for the development and implementation of new systems. With the reorganization, the regiment plans to develop its own drone operator training capabilities, as well as production facilities. In July the first hundred recruits were mobilized as part of recruitment and started basic general military training at the National Training Center. New recruitment in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and other EU countries was also announced. In August, the regiment was transferred to the defend against Russian assaults during the Pokrovsk offensive destroying 232 air targets in the second week of August. On 16 November 2024, fighters of the regiment, using a Vampire drone, destroyed a Russian Borisoglebsk-2 electronic suppression complex in the Pokrovsk worth $200 million. In December 2024, the regiment was expanded to a brigade.

Structure

* Adam Tactical Group * FPV Klima Team

References

{{reflist Military units and formations established in 2024 Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine