“Fourth house. Blue doors”: Four years ago three Ukrainians changed global warfare forever (VIDEO)
On 10 June 2022, the world's first successful FPV drone combat strike was carried out by Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters from the SIGNUM battalion. The three operators with call signs "Turyst," "Shvaiger," and "Bagdad" fired the strike against a Russian target, an advisor to the Defense Minister, Serhii Sterneko, recalls.
The 10 June 2022 FPV strike is recognized as the moment that changed not only the Russo-Ukrainian war but the broader rules of armed conflict. The combat application of a commercial-grade quadcopter against a moving Russian target opened a new category of warfare that has since been replicated by militaries worldwide.
Ukraine remains the operational pioneer in this category, with the SBS now leading the Logistics Lockdown program targeting Russian rear-area logistics, deploying $113 million in mid-strike drones.
"Fourth house. Blue doors"
The footage of the 10 June 2022 strike captures Ukrainian SIGNUM battalion fighters operating an FPV drone against a Russian target on the frontline.
The radio call "Fourth house. Blue doors." — used by the operators to identify the target — has become one of the most recognizable phrases from the early war.
The day that changed military doctrine worldwide: On 10 June 2022, Ukraine carried out the world's first FPV drone combat mission
As a result, Ukraine established Unmanned Systems Forces, helping save thousands of Ukrainian lives 
Sternenko pic.twitter.com/kbk5KphZBG— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 11, 2026
From battlefield improvisation to separate branch of armed forces
The 10 June 2022 strike was an act of battlefield improvisation. Ukrainian forces were using commercial drone technology adapted for combat, with no formal doctrine, no procurement pipeline, and no command structure for FPV operations.
Three years later, on 11 June 2025, Ukraine formally established the Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) as a dedicated grouping within the Armed Forces.
SBS now has eleven combat units and its own military doctrine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 10 June 2026 signed a decree establishing the Day of Unmanned Systems Forces as an annual commemorative day, to be observed each 11 June.
Robert "Madiar" Brovdi: from volunteer to branch commander
The SBS commander is Major Robert Brovdi with a call sign "Madiar". Brovdi is a Hero of Ukraine, the founder of the "Madiar's Birds" unit, and one of the originators and leading practitioners of innovations in unmanned systems for combat applications.
He traveled the path from volunteer to commander of a separate branch of the Armed Forces. The trajectory is consistent with the SBS's broader institutional history, which began with battlefield improvisation in places like the 10 June 2022 SIGNUM strike, and has developed into a formal military structure with doctrine, procurement, and command.
