Ukraine’s Fire Point CEO Says Ballistic Missile Will Soon Put Moscow in Range

KYIV — Iryna Terekh, the 34-year-old chief executive of Fire Point, stands out on the factory floor where middle-aged men wield power tools and lug drone components. Clad in a black knit dress and mismatched earrings, Terekh leads one of Ukraine’s largest defense manufacturers, a company that has rapidly expanded from building dozens of drones monthly to producing 300 to 400 long-range attack drones daily.

“The good thing about being the boss is that you get to set the dress code,” Terekh told CBS News, sitting beside a model of one of the firm’s latest creations. Her leadership style reflects a broader shift in Ukraine, where civilians with diverse professional backgrounds have been forced to reinvent themselves since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Trained as an architect in Irpin, a northern city near Kyiv, Terekh previously worked in high-performance concrete and outdoor furniture design. When Russian forces occupied Irpin in early 2022, destroying approximately 70% of the city, she recognized the urgency of contributing to the war effort. After escaping the occupation, she partnered with Denys Shtilerman, a defense engineer and former colleague from her urban design days, and Yehor Skalyha, a film producer, to establish Fire Point.

The company initially targeted a production rate of 20 FP-1 drones per month. By 2024, these drones were regularly striking Russian airfields, ammunition depots, and oil refineries. In June, a Fire Point cruise missile completed a mission exceeding 1,000 miles, which Terekh described as the longest-range strike ever recorded in combat history for this type of weapon. She further noted that Ukrainian deep strikes into Russia have doubled Russia’s attacks into Ukraine in 2026, with 60% of those Ukrainian attacks utilizing Fire Point systems.

Looking ahead, Terekh announced that her company is just months away from deploying Ukraine’s first domestically designed and manufactured ballistic missile. Unlike cruise missiles that fly at lower altitudes, ballistic missiles follow a high arcing trajectory, making them significantly more difficult to intercept.

Terekh emphasized that Fire Point is part of a growing ecosystem of Ukrainian startups transforming the nation from a recipient of military aid into a hub for defense innovation. Similar trajectories include Sine Engineering, whose founder previously made standing desks, and Fourth Law, led by Yaroslav Azhnyuk, who launched the pet tech company Petcube before the war.

“This works in Ukraine because we have very low bureaucracy, because we have direct communication with the army, and because we have companies that react,” Terekh said. The success of these private sector innovations has attracted international attention, including from the United States, which recently launched its own program to replicate Iranian Shahed drones.

With a new defense agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine expected to facilitate technology exports and joint ventures, Terekh remains focused on national security while welcoming broader collaboration. “We need to ensure that Ukraine will stop just being a bread basket for the world,” she said, referencing the country’s historical reliance on grain exports. “Now we have something to offer which is much more valuable, and the defense industry is a huge driver for this.”