Drones In The Spotlight: Live Entertainment In War-Torn Ukraine

Since the full-scale conflict broke out after the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, everything has changed for Ukrainians. In addition to horrific civilian and military casualties, most cities have suffered significant destruction, and every aspect of normal life has been interrupted, including live entertainment. But it has not disappeared. In fact, as Volodymyr Andrusyshyn, CEO and founder of Alight, the largest lighting rental company in Ukraine, said, “If you want to buy a ticket [for the theatre or a concert], it has to be for something in three months because tickets sell out immediately.”

RELATED: More videos from Ukraine from Louise Stickland's series for Robe Lighting, OnLocation

Andrusyshyn was speaking at "Ukrainian Strength, Creativity, & Resilience: An Industry On A Mission" at PLASA 2025, a seminar moderated by Louise Stickland, which also featured Elena Miloradova, International Sales and Marketing Director at OperTec, a manufacturer of cutting-edge camera equipment for high-end television and film production. 

As a man of military age, getting an exit visa for Andrusyshyn to speak at the event was not easy, and the entertainment technology community as a whole has seen its skilled workforce depleted as Ukrainians sign up for military service. Andrusyshyn described how, back in 2022, his family were concerned about war and he told them, "Relax, this is the 21st century, it is not possible. But then at 5am rockets started flying in the Donbas Region. In one month, everything changed and we started thinking about relocating our company to another country." While Andrusyshyn had wanted to expand the company anyway, the war accelerated his expansion into Europe, although most of his business is still in Kiev supporting live events, and other critical functions for the war effort. 

Elena Miloradova, International Sales & Rental Director at OperTec, also spoke about expanding business during the war. OperTec has partners all over the world, and just before the war began in earnest had a signed a contract with Eurovision. Miloradova said her first response to the invasion was thinking, "We cannot lose this job because of the war, we have our crew relying on us, and their families, and our partners all over the world. We can’t lose 20 years of work in one day."

OperTec had a zoom call with Eurovision to reassure them that they could continue to work. "We said, 'Sure we can!' Because we have to go on, we have no other choice. We donate to the war effort and support our workers. We are still based in Kiev but we had to move to a new building to expand. This is the strength of Ukraine, we keep going.

The company is still taking orders but each year, nervous customers ask if they will be able to ship the equipment. For safety, they store much of the equipment in Europe, but all the manufacturing is done in Ukraine. Despite missile attacks that recently took out two ranges used for making telescopic cranes at the factory, they are expanding and improving. Miloradova is careful to point out that while they continue to fulfill contracts despite the war, they receive no financial assistance from the government, and no insurance company will cover losses incurred from bombing--they stay in Kiev at their own financial risk, in addition to the risk to life. 

Shelter

Andrusyshyn has moved some of his business to Poland, but is still committed to projects in Ukraine, although it seems that Russian attacks coincide with entertainment events as they try to destroy the quality of life for Ukrainians. He mentioned an event in a big concert hall where they started set up at 5am for a Saturday night event and at 6.30pm the air raid sirens went off and eventually the concert was cancelled. On a more recent Saturday night, Andrusyshyn said, "There were five massive concerts at sport arenas, the municipal hall, and at a beach area and they were all cancelled because of air raids. Now, when we choose a venue, we don’t think about how big or good the venue is, we think about where people can shelter. The Ukrainian government has given permission to use the Blockbuster Mall for festivals there because of the shelter. It is all about shelter first, then stage size, then lighting." [The mall has an underground parking lot which can hold up to 25,000 ticket holders in the event of a raid.] The Atlas Music Festival, Ukraine's largest festival, took place at Blockbuster and has already released the dates to hold it again next year.

For Miloradova, keeping the Eurovision contract is especially important because of its historical resonance. Started in 1956 as a way to unite Europe during its recovery from WWII, it was designed to use the new medium of transnational television broadcasting to allow everyone to watch the same live event at the same time. It was even accessible to East Berliners after the wall was built in 1961, giving them an important link to the rest of Europe. Miloradova said, "It was invented so people could celebrate and have a distraction, and we need that. Everyone has lost a friend or family member, and everyone knows someone in the military, and we really need to have events to help us relax." She continued, "We adore Eurovision, it is the biggest project in the world and the production period is long. We’ve already done eight years in a row and it is like a family for us. When I went to Eurovision it was very strange to see airplanes flying, as there are no commercial airplanes in our airspace, we have to take trains and buses, and I felt guilty because there were no air raids there, but then I realized my team needs their jobs and we cannot lose this contract. And Eurovision is so supportive of us, there is meaning and sense in the program. The motto is United By Music, and we feel that when we participate people don’t forget about us and the war."

On visits to Ukraine, Louise Stickland has experienced some of the fear during air raids that Ukrainians are regularly subjected to; she was interviewing Andrusyshyn at the Motherland statue, a landmark in Kiev, during the set up for a show this summer when a rocket attack happened. She called the experience "terrifying," but for Ukrainians,  the show must go on, even for Andrusyshyn's assistant who was with them and heavily pregnant at the time. 

The Workforce

The entertainment industry has lost many of its skilled workers, particularly drone and electronics professionals, as they go into the army or work in weapons. Miloradova's company works on agreements with government ministries to keep her skilled workforce when they are called up to the war effort, without them, they cannot continue to manufacture and keep the business going, or pay workers who rely on those jobs to support their families.  She described when she travels abroad for work,  "I talk to a lot of people who think we are crazy to keep going. They ask why we stay when there are bombings. I tell them, you cannot leave your beautiful country where you want to raise your children and be with your family just because someone comes and wants to take your country and impose his rules on you. It is not fair. Your mindset becomes: Be more creative to build something, and build it despite the craziness so that it will survive."

Both of the speakers are looking forward to the end of the war, but recognize that there will be new challenges, and not just rebuilding.  Andrusyshyn explained, "Before the war, I had around 100 employees in Ukraine. Now in my Kiev office I have 12 employees. Some people went in the army, some guys moved to work for me in Warsaw or Germany. Now I have a new problem: The guys who stayed in Kiev think about [the people working for] our company in Europe having an easier life, and guys in Europe cannot come back to Ukraine thinking the European way, they can’t get into our mindset. I go back and forth between them and I understand that the team I had before the war I can’t keep, it will not be the same. That will be a challenge." For Andrusyshyn, though, there is one advantage for the workers in Kiev. There is a midnight curfew imposed because of the war, which means that all shows must finish at 10pm so everyone is off the streets by 12. His workers are at home asleep with their families at a reasonable hour, while workers in Poland are often onsite until 3am. Russia is inadvertently responsible for family-friendly working hours.

Night Hunting

While maintaining a sense of normalcy and providing a distraction is, without question, important in Ukraine these days, Andrusyshyn described a more concrete way the entertainment industry helped the war effort at the beginning of the invasion.  "In October of 2022, my friend who was in showbiz but who is now in the army, asked me to help him out with lighting for night hunting in the sky for drones." At the time, they could hear them, but not see them. So Andrusyshyn took two fixtures [originally he thinks a Claypaky Sharpy and a laser fixture], removed the truss-hanging mechanism and fixed them to a swivel so that they could be manually moved by a soldier, and gave them to his friend.

A couple of nights later, the friend called and said, "Very good, we crashed two drones, give me more." Now, in Ukraine, more than 3,000 entertainment lighting fixtures have been requisitioned for use with the army, on cars or buildings, hunting drones and lighting defensive systems. Any chrome-finish fixtures have been painted black so that they can be on rooftops or trucks without attracting attention. He says lighting equipment over 1200 watts or laser fixtures are the best, and all of his old Sharpies are in use. "I cannot believe that in the 21st century we are using lighting to crash drones and rockets," he said, "I think we need to upgrade our technology."

Unfortunately, Russia has rethought its design choices. Drones which were once silver-gray and perfect for highlighting with these adapted followspots, are now painted a matte black, making them much harder to pick out in the dark sky.  

Andrusyshyn jokes that whatever shortages of skilled labor he will face after the war, he knows there are now many highly-trained followspot operators who are able to work in all weather conditions and any perches.

Elena Miloradova, International Sales & Rental Director, OperTec

Elena Miloradova is an expert in international project management and business development, with over 15 years of experience in the global media and entertainment industry.  As International Sales and Marketing Director at OperTec – a proudly Ukrainian company leading the manufacture of cutting-edge special camera equipment for high-end television and film production – she heads up expansion across more than 20 countries, managing a global network of partners using OperTec’s technology in major film and TV markets.  Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, under Elena’s leadership, OperTec continues not only to operate, but to grow, develop and deliver advanced technical solutions.  It has been an official technical event supplier for 8 consecutive Eurovision Song Contests, 9 Junior ESCs, and is proudly representing Ukrainian innovation on the international stage for TV, feature films, sports events and commercial sectors.  Elena is responsible for all aspects of OperTec’s international business, including global strategy, partner relations, and brand development.  She holds two Master’s degrees – in International Business and in Film and Television Production – providing a strong foundation for strategic thinking and the ability to analyse both economic and political trends that influence global markets and business decisions.  

Volodymyr Andrusyshyn CEO, Alight