From Architect to Arms Manufacturer: How Iryna Terekh Is Powering Ukraine's Long-Range Strike Arsenal

In an unassuming industrial facility in Kyiv, Ukraine’s burgeoning defense manufacturing sector is being shaped by an unlikely leader. Iryna Terekh, the 34-year-old chief executive officer of Fire Point, oversees one of the country's most critical weapons enterprises. Dressed in a black knit dress, mismatched earrings, and high heels, she projects an image far removed from the conventional aesthetic of wartime arms executives, embodying a new generation of leadership forged by conflict.

Surrounded by an energetic cadre of millennial managers and assistants, Terekh navigates a bustling factory floor where teams of technicians and laborers assemble strike systems, operate heavy machinery, and handle drone components. Her presence highlights a wider transformation across Ukrainian society, where private enterprise and civilian talent have been rapidly redirected toward national defense following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Terekh views her unconventional background not as a hindrance, but as an asset in building an agile manufacturing organization. Prior to the war, she had established a professional career centered on architectural design and project management in the northern city of Irpin. Her commercial ventures included designing outdoor urban living spaces, building patios and custom exterior furniture, and leading a firm specialized in high-performance concrete production.

That civilian career came to an abrupt halt during the initial phase of the invasion in early 2022, when Russian forces advanced on Irpin. The subsequent occupation and heavy fighting devastated the municipality, damaging or destroying an estimated 70 percent of its residential and urban infrastructure. Escaping the wreckage of her hometown forced Terekh to re-evaluate how her skills could best serve the country during an existential crisis.

Witnessing the destruction firsthand convinced Terekh that ordinary commercial pursuits were no longer viable while the country remained vulnerable to external aggression. She determined that her organizational expertise, architectural planning skills, and industrial management experience could be pivoted directly into weapons development to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The strategic impetus for entering the defense sector emerged in the autumn of 2022, when Russian forces intensified their campaign against Ukrainian cities and energy networks using long-range loitering munitions. Moscow deployed waves of Iranian-designed Shahed exploding drones alongside its own domestic iterations, known as Gerans, creating an urgent operational requirement for Ukraine to field symmetrical long-range strike capabilities.

In response, Terekh joined forces with Ukrainian businessman Denys Shtilerman to establish Fire Point. The two had previously collaborated on civilian urban design projects before the war. While Shtilerman brought essential background knowledge in defense engineering to the enterprise, the company drew heavily upon civilian specialists. The founding team also included Yehor Skalyha, a former film producer who took on a key executive role.

Fire Point began operations with modest output targets, initially aiming to manufacture roughly 20 units per month of its proprietary FP-1 long-range attack drone. The enterprise focused on creating cost-effective, dependable aerial platforms capable of penetrating defended airspace to disrupt enemy logistical hubs far beyond active frontline combat zones.

By 2024, the company’s FP-1 drones were playing an active operational role across the theater of war. Ukrainian forces regularly deployed the systems to carry out strikes against high-priority targets deep inside Russian territory, focusing on military airfields, forward ammunition depots, and critical oil refining infrastructure to degrade the adversary’s operational logistics.

Over the subsequent two years, Fire Point underwent an extraordinary industrial expansion. The company transitioned from low-volume assembly to massive serial manufacturing, scaling its operations to produce between 300 and 400 long-range attack drones each day. This rapid growth positioned the firm as a primary pillar of Ukraine's domestic deep-strike industrial base.

Alongside increased drone volume, Fire Point broadened its development portfolio to include more sophisticated strike platforms. In June, the manufacturer achieved a notable operational milestone when one of its custom cruise missiles successfully completed an combat mission spanning more than 1,000 miles. Company leadership highlighted the flight as the longest-range combat strike conducted by a cruise missile in military history.

The operational footprint of these systems has shifted the balance of deep-strike warfare, according to company assessments. Terekh reported that during 2026, Ukrainian forces launched twice as many deep strikes into Russian territory as Russian forces directed into Ukraine, with Fire Point weapons accounting for approximately 60 percent of all Ukrainian long-range missions.

Building on the success of its aerial drones and cruise missiles, Fire Point is now preparing to introduce advanced ballistic technology into active service. The company is within months of deploying Ukraine's first domestically designed and produced ballistic missile. Unlike low-altitude cruise missiles, ballistic weapons operate on distinct flight trajectories and offer rapid delivery profiles, presenting complex interception challenges for hostile air defense networks.

Terekh’s trajectory from designing residential patios in Irpin to directing mass-scale missile and drone production underscores the profound restructuring of Ukraine's industrial capabilities. By marshaling civilian ingenuity and private sector agility, Fire Point exemplifies how Ukraine continues to expand its domestic defense industry to sustain long-range strategic operations.