- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian missile strike destroyed a production line for Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missile, which has since been relocated and restored.
- The Flamingo missile program aims to expand Ukraine’s long-range strike capability despite limited operational success and ongoing production disruptions.
A Russian missile strike destroyed a production line for Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Feb. 14 during a briefing on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Zelenskyy said the attack targeted a major manufacturing facility connected to the domestically developed long-range missile program, temporarily disrupting production at a time when Ukraine maintains only a limited inventory of the weapon.
The FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile is developed by Ukrainian company Fire Point, founded in the summer of 2022 by a group of specialists from construction, game design, and architecture backgrounds without prior defense industry experience. The project forms part of Ukraine’s effort to establish indigenous long-range strike capabilities during the ongoing war.
In August 2025, Zelenskyy said mass production of the missile was expected to begin between late December and January–February 2026. At the time, he described Flamingo as Ukraine’s most capable missile system. “So far, the most successful missile we have — it flies 3,000 kilometers, this is important,” the president said during a meeting with journalists.
Confirmed operational use of the Flamingo missile remains limited. Sources verified one successful strike conducted Feb. 12 against a missile, munitions, and explosives arsenal near the settlement of Kotluban in Russia’s Volgograd region. Earlier reported uses of the missile resulted either in unsuccessful engagements or insufficient accuracy to destroy intended targets.
During a January 2026 attack against infrastructure linked to Russia’s Oreshnik missile complex at the Kapustin Yar test range in Russia’s Astrakhan region, the missile reportedly failed to achieve the required level of precision.
Ukrainian media previously compared Flamingo to the U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missile, citing claimed advantages in warhead weight and range, though operational experience indicated vulnerabilities to Russian air defenses and limitations in the guidance system affecting strike accuracy.
Zelenskyy emphasized that expanding missile output remains a priority despite the strike. “Right now it is important to increase the quantity: one large production line was destroyed as a result of a missile strike. But I can already talk about it. It has already been relocated and production has been restored,” the president said.
The president did not disclose the location of the damaged facility or details of the relocation but confirmed that production has resumed following the attack.