VIDEO: How a Hungarian major destroys an exorbitantly expensive Russian helicopter

Russian helicopters were in grave danger from the Hungarian major’s drones.

Robert Brovdi—born in Uzhhorod and of Hungarian descent—transformed from an entrepreneur into the founder of the Ukrainian drone forces after the Russian invasion. In June, he was appointed the commander of the Ukrainian drone units. Brovdi claims that with his inexpensive drones and a relatively small team of drone pilots, they are responsible for a third of Russian personnel losses. He has now shared a video showing exactly how they took down a costly Russian helicopter.

Drone brings down an expensive Russian helicopter

Known by the call sign “Magyar,” Robert Brovdi was once a businessman, property developer, politician, and even a stock exchange executive in Transcarpathia. However, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he enlisted and founded one of Ukraine’s first drone units. Those who have followed the war know these dollar-value devices have earned immense respect on both sides, inflicting significant damage when expertly coordinated and deployed.

Brovdi maximises this potential, regularly sharing his battlefield triumphs on Telegram, YouTube, and other platforms. Just yesterday, he posted a video showing an FPV drone obliterating a Russian Mi-8 helicopter in the eastern Kharkiv region. Although primarily a transport vehicle, the Mi-8 can also support ground troops flying low. This Russian helicopter costs over USD 18 million — if Russia even has the spare parts needed. An FPV drone, in comparison, costs no more than a couple of thousand euros.

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Here is the video:

Did he attack Hungary’s energy supply?

Brovdi became more widely known in Hungary following tensions with the Hungarian government, which has expressed ambivalent support for Ukraine’s defence. The Orbán administration insists Hungary must buy Russian oil and gas or risk collapsing the so-called household energy price cap scheme, despite multiple proofs that this scheme isn’t cheap because of Russian goodwill, but rather funded by taxpayers’ money.

They also claim that without Russian oil, fuel prices would surge sharply as needed volumes couldn’t be imported via the Croatian pipeline—a claim recently refuted by Croatian authorities.

Here’s another Brovdi montage, this time with rapid victories set to Beethoven’s 14th Sonata:

“Russians, go home!” — the Hungarian major’s message

Brovdi stepped up in August when he used his “drones” to demolish several pumping stations on the Bartsa oil pipeline, temporarily halting Russian oil supply (later restored after repairs). He ended the shared video with a message in Hungarian: “Ruszkik, haza!” (Russians, go home!). That claim and motto are well-known in Hungary since 1956 anti-Soviet freedom fighters wrote and painted it everywhere in the streets of Budapest during the Soviet invasion.