BBC journalists were taken in December 2025 to a highly secret missile production facility in Ukraine, where the country’s new cruise missile known as “Flamingo” is being manufactured. The visit took place under extreme security measures: the reporters were blindfolded during the journey, ordered to switch off their phones and forbidden from filming structural details such as pillars, windows or ceilings. The WP Times reports on these developments, citing the BBC.
The secrecy has a clear reason. According to the BBC, two factories belonging to Fire Point, the company producing the missile, have already been hit by Russian strikes. As a result, Ukraine has increasingly dispersed, concealed and relocated parts of its arms industry, treating production sites themselves as potential military targets.
The Flamingo is a new long-range Ukrainian cruise missile, designed for deep strikes against military and economic targets inside Russia. The BBC reports that the missile is believed to have a range of up to 3,000 kilometres, placing it in a category comparable to the US-made Tomahawk — a system Western allies have so far declined to supply to Kyiv.
Despite the war, Ukraine is rapidly expanding its domestic arms production. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in autumn 2025 that the country now produces more than 50% of the weapons used on the front line. Almost the entire inventory of Ukraine’s long-range weapons is now domestically manufactured.
The missile is produced by Fire Point, one of Ukraine’s largest drone and missile manufacturers. Its chief technical officer, Iryna Terekh (33), originally trained as an architect but now plays a central role in Ukraine’s defence industry. Standing in front of a missile roughly the length of a London bus, she explained to the BBC why it is now painted black:
“It’s no longer pink like the early prototypes — it’s black because it feeds on Russian oil.”
Visually, the Flamingo resembles the German V-1 flying bomb from the Second World War: a long tube-shaped body with a large jet engine mounted on top. Fire Point confirms that the missile has already been used in combat, though it declines to name specific targets or dates.
Long-range strikes have become a cornerstone of Ukraine’s military strategy. The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, told the BBC that Ukrainian deep-strike operations have cost the Russian economy more than $21.5 billion in 2025 alone.
An officer from Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, identified only as Ruslan, described the approach in blunt terms:
“Our goal is to reduce the enemy’s military capabilities and its economic potential.”
He said Ukrainian forces had carried out hundreds of strikes on oil refineries, weapons factories and ammunition depots deep inside Russian territory.
Russia, meanwhile, continues to rely on scale. According to the BBC, Moscow launches around 200 Shahed drones a day on average, while Ukraine’s response amounts to roughly half that number. Russian long-range attacks frequently hit civilian infrastructure, causing widespread power outages and disrupting daily life for millions.
Despite technological advances, Fire Point’s chief designer and co-founder Denys Shtilerman cautions against the idea of a decisive super-weapon:
“There is no wonder weapon,” he said. “The real game changer is our will to win.”
Background: what is the “Flamingo” missile
The Flamingo is a next-generation Ukrainian cruise missile, developed under wartime conditions to provide Kyiv with an independent long-range strike capability. Precise technical specifications — including guidance systems, launch platforms and production volumes — remain classified for security reasons.
What is known is that the project forms part of Ukraine’s broader effort to reduce dependence on foreign weapons supplies and to build advanced military technology domestically while under constant attack. The fact that even international journalists were brought to the site blindfolded underscores how missile factories have become front-line assets — and prime targets — in modern warfare.
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