The Kremlin put a bounty of tens of millions of dollars on "Madyar": Russians are searching for the SBS commander through criminal networks

Through post-Soviet criminal networks, Russia has announced a reward of $20 million for information on the whereabouts of the commander of the Armed Forces’ Unmanned Systems Forces, Major Robert “Madyar” Brovdi. This is reported in a report by The Wall Street Journal journalist Gillian Kay Melchior, who visited the secret command post of Ukrainian drone operators. The piece was published on 25 September, 2026.

According to the material cited by the WSJ, the Russian side, through post-Soviet criminal networks, is seeking to establish the exact whereabouts of Robert Brovdi. The Unmanned Systems Forces attribute this to the high effectiveness of Ukrainian drones and the scale of Russian military losses. “Madyar” has led the Unmanned Systems Forces since June 2025. According to the report, the USF make up about 2.5% of the numerical strength of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, yet account for roughly one-third of Russian military losses over the past year.

The level of threat is also illustrated by how the journalist’s trip to the Ukrainian command post was organized. Before departing she had to turn off location services on her phone and switch the device to airplane mode. After that the phone was placed into a special Faraday bag that blocks Wi‑Fi, cellular, Bluetooth and GPS signals. The journalist was driven to the meeting point in southeastern Ukraine in a car with tinted windows to conceal the route to the secret location. According to the WSJ, similar security measures are observed by USF personnel when moving around Ukraine.

One reason for the USF’s effectiveness, the piece says, is a data-centered command system. The Ukrainian platform “Delta” unites information from drones, sensors and other assets into a single network. An operator can mark a detected target on the map, after which the information becomes available to units that can respond quickly. According to Robert Brovdi, he delegates approximately 90% of combat decisions directly to personnel on the ground. Each operation leaves a digital record — with data on location, time, conditions, means used, the target and the result. The system collects large amounts of data every day, which are used to analyze the effectiveness of different drones and other strike assets. Thus, combat operations simultaneously become a source of data for further system improvement.

The WSJ journalist also described an electronic board in “Madyar”‘s command post. At the start of her conversation with the commander it showed 302 Russian military deaths for the day. By the end of the interview the number had risen to 343. The piece also notes that since the start of the full-scale invasion Russian forces have killed 79 fighters of the “Madyar’s Birds” unit. Their names are carved on the wall by the entrance to the command center.

According to Brovdi, for every one Ukrainian soldier killed from his unit there are 656 killed or wounded Russian soldiers. This is an estimate provided by the commander himself and his unit.

Alongside the hunt for the USF commander, Russian courts have in absentia charged Robert Brovdi with offenses related to “terrorism” over his participation in Ukrainian military operations. According to The New Voice of Ukraine, in March 2026 a Russian court sentenced Brovdi in absentia to life imprisonment in a case the Russian side links to fighting in the Kursk region.

Thus, the Russian in absentia prosecution and the announcement of a $20 million reward come against the backdrop of the growing role of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces in the war and their transition to a system that combines drones, intelligence, digital data and rapid decision‑making.