If Silicon Valley start-ups began in garages, the origin story of Ukraine's defence start-ups lies in basements. There, many workshops cobbled together drones from off-the-shelf parts, going underground to avoid Russian missiles.

These once small-scale, volunteer-run outfits are now transforming into defence corporations, in a process encouraged by the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky to scale up innovations. Among the companies, one stands out to both its supporters and its critics for the speed and scale of its rise: an emerging drone-manufacturing giant called Fire Point.

At the start of the full-scale war in February 2022, the business that became Fire Point was a casting agency for film and television productions, according to Ukrainian government registration documents. Its legally listed owner, Yehor Skalyha, is the chief executive of another company, At Point, that scouts film locations. Fire Point's chief technology officer, Iryna Terekh, previously ran a company that made concrete outdoor furniture.

Now, the company is one of the largest contractors for the Ukrainian military, with $1 billion in contracts this year, according to its executives. At about 30 secret locations in Ukraine, Fire Point churns out long-range exploding drones using cheap materials like Styrofoam, plywood, plastic and a type of carbon fibre intended for racing bicycles.

Those drones are being used in a major campaign against Russian oil refineries that is intended to inflict economic damage on Russia and give Ukraine leverage in peace talks. The company says it is also ramping up production of a larger, longer-range weapon, called the Flamingo, that officials hope will bolster Ukraine's ability to strike deep inside Russia.

But as Fire Point has raced ahead of a crowded field to become a national aerospace champion, the company has been dogged by accusations that it used connections to win contracts, and its executives have acknowledged being questioned in an anticorruption investigation.

Fire Point emerged from the same Ukrainian film and television industry where Zelensky, a former comedian, worked before his election as President in 2019. The film scouting company led by Fire Point's owner was credited with location work for a 2016 romantic comedy starring Zelensky, Eight Best Dates. It has also worked on dozens of other productions unrelated to the President's former film career.

A newspaper, The Kyiv Independent, reported in August that Ukraine's National Anticorruption Agency was examining ties between Fire Point and a businessman, Timur Mindich, who is a half owner of a television studio started by Zelensky.

The newspaper said the agency was investigating whether Mindich was receiving Fire Point profits as an unnamed owner. Fire Point said that Mindich had asked to buy stock in the company, but that the owners had declined to sell.

Fire Point executives said that they were cooperating with the anticorruption inquiry and that it was focused not on their company, but on government officials. A spokesman for the anticorruption agency declined to comment.

The company has also been accused of receiving favourable treatment despite problems with the quality of its drones that critics say have made them less successful than other Ukrainian options in penetrating Russian air defences.

The Public Anticorruption Council, an independent group watching over defence procurement, has called for a parliamentary inquiry into accusations of quality and pricing problems.

Fire Point says that its initial quality problems have been ironed out and that its main drone, the FP-1, is now reliably blowing up Russian refining equipment, starting fires and causing mayhem, as it was designed to do. That claim could not be independently verified.

Even as questions have been raised about Ukraine's military contracting, drone manufacturers like Fire Point have been embraced as national heroes. The country's quick adaptation of drones with commercially available components has evened the odds against Russia's far larger army and swayed military analysts' views of the future of war.

Fire Point’s FP-1 drone resembles a miniature airplane. It blasts off with a rocket-assisted start and is powered by a two-stroke engine like those on chain saws. It flies about 1,367km and carries a 130-pound warhead. Though made from inexpensive materials, the drone is capable of hitting much of western Russia.

Fire Point says that its drones now conduct 60 per cent of Ukraine's attacks inside Russia.

New York Times News Service