Ukraine launches competition to land a drone on Red Square during Russian military parade

Ukraine has launched a competition for drone developers to land an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) on Red Square in Moscow during the May 9 parade for a cash prize.

The competition was announced by the co-founder of Monobank and developer of the Dovbush drone Volodymyr Yatsenko.

Writing on Facebook, he said, "I am officially awarding a prize to a Ukrainian UAV manufacturer, whose aircraft, with the help of the military, of course, will fly and land on Red Square in Moscow on May 9".

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The public is invited to add to the prize fund, which currently stands at 20 million hryvnias (more than £440,000) for the first drone to successfully land.

“I hope that this amount will be fairly divided between the manufacturer and the military operators who will successfully complete the task, and will be directed to the improvement of the UAV,” Volodymyr Yatsenko said.

He also added that a Ukrainian slogan had to be indicated on the wings of the drone that would fly to Red Square, for example, "Glory to Ukraine", "Glory to Heroes", to identify any that reach the destination. 

The Dovbush drone will also undertake the flight to the Russian capital but will be exempt from the competition.