Vladimir Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces recently launched five long-range Flamingo missiles, but four of them were intercepted by Russian air defense. He claimed that one missile did reach its intended target and added that earlier results had been significantly worse.

According to the Telegram channel Politika Strany, Zelensky stated that the «Flamingo percentage» has now improved and that, in his view, the system is becoming stronger with each passing month.

He previously announced in August that the Flamingo missile had completed testing. At that time, he said that mass serial production of these munitions could be launched by the end of 2025 or in January-February 2026.

The Flamingo is a Ukrainian cruise missile with a declared range of up to 3,000 kilometers, developed by the company Fire Point in 2025. The company says it drew inspiration from historical designs, in particular the German V-1 from the Second World War. According to the developer, the full development cycle took only nine months.

Experts, however, have pointed out that Flamingo bears a strong resemblance to the British FP-5 cruise missile developed by Milanion Group and first shown in February at the IDEX–2025 exhibition in the UAE. This company has been supplying its products to Ukraine since 2021. Analysts believe the Ukrainian missile is either an analogue of the FP-5 or a direct copy.