The founder of Eva and Varus called for the use of robots to fight fires following the Russian attacks
Ruslan Shostak, founder and co-owner of the EVA and Varus chains, stated that a significant portion of infrastructure is destroyed not at the moment of a Russian strike, but as a result of fires that break out after the strikes. The businessman proposed the widespread use of robotic systems, unmanned ground vehicles, and drones for initial fire suppression during air raid alerts.
His statement was prompted by the destruction of the EVA and EVA.UA distribution center in Brovary by a Russian strike. No one was injured in the attack, but the businessman estimated property losses at up to 1 billion hryvnias.
“Recently, our distribution center for the EVA and EVA.UA store chains in Brovary was destroyed by a Russian strike. Thank God, no one was injured. Property losses from this strike alone amount to up to 1 billion hryvnias. But I still have questions for the State Emergency Service,” Shostak said.
According to Shostak, after losing its seventh warehouse, his team analyzed the response system for fires that occur following Russian attacks.
He recalled that in 2022, State Emergency Service personnel were killed while fighting a fire following a missile strike on the Dnipro airport, where the Varus warehouse was located. After that, the rules were changed: rescuers are not to risk their lives during air raid alerts or when there is a threat of follow-up strikes.
Shostak noted that he considers this decision to be the right one. At the same time, over the course of 4.5 years of full-scale war, his group of companies has lost five large warehouses and 15 stores.
The businessman also analyzed the losses incurred by Epicenter, Nova Poshta, Biosphere Corporation, Silpo, and NOVUS.
Based on the results of his analysis, Shostak concluded that some of the facilities were not destroyed immediately upon impact.
“And we noticed a key point: a significant portion of these facilities was not destroyed immediately upon impact. A localized fire would break out after the strike. But due to air raid alerts and the risk of follow-up strikes, rescue workers could not immediately begin full-scale firefighting operations. During this time, the fire spread and, within a few hours, destroyed whatever might have survived the initial strike,” he noted.
The businessman emphasized that the problem affects not only private businesses but also state, municipal, energy, industrial, and residential infrastructure.
“Why, in the fifth year of a full-scale war, do we still essentially lack a system that would allow us to contain large-scale fires following strikes without putting rescue workers in danger?” Shostak asked the State Emergency Service.
The businessman cited the widespread use of specialized robots, unmanned ground vehicles, and drones as one possible solution. According to his plan, such systems could begin initial firefighting efforts during an air raid alert, when it remains dangerous for people to remain on site.
“We preliminarily estimate that 50% of infrastructure losses could be minimized if specialized robots, unmanned ground vehicles, and drones were used on a large scale for initial firefighting during an air raid alert,” Shostak stated.
He noted that Ukraine already has significant experience in developing ground-based robotic systems, marine drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, and remote-control systems for carrying out missions on the front lines.
“Do we really need our own ‘Madyar’ in every position and every service to find unconventional solutions and defend Ukraine? Because this solution is literally right under our noses,” the businessman emphasized.
Shostak believes that Ukraine’s accumulated technological expertise can be used to create robotic systems to address the aftermath of Russian attacks. At the same time, he noted that there is currently no systematic government program to address this issue.
Shostak made this statement on social media.
As a reminder, a Russian missile strike on the night of August 19 damaged a warehouse belonging to a logistics partner of the Varus chain in Boryspil.
