Fire Point's rapid rise in Ukraine's defence tech market raises questions about corruption.
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.
Approximately $623,000 raised through a crowdfunding initiative in Czechia has not been transferred to Fire Point, the company that manufactures Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missiles, according to the Czech portal iDNES. The rethink came after it emerged that the manufacturer was linked to a close associate of Volodymyr Zelensky - businessman Timur Mindich - who is at the center of a major corruption scandal involving the Ukrainian president's inner circle.
On August 21, Zelensky said that by early 2026, Ukraine would launch mass production of the Flamingo and described the missile as "the most successful we have." On the same day, Fire Point revealed that it produces at least one Flamingo cruise missile per day and boasted that its product could hit targets at up to 3,000 km, enabling it to reach Moscow and St. Petersburg. On September 18, the company said that production had increased to 50 missiles per month and that it plans to reach a daily production rate of seven missiles by the end of the year.
The 'Gift to Putin' initiative raised about $623,000 in less than two days to finance a Flamingo missile for Ukraine. The crowdfunding initiative raised more than expected, and it was revealed that the funds would be enough for two missiles, which will be named DANA 1 and DANA 2 in honor of the late Czech nuclear physicist and Ukraine supporter Dana Drábová.
However, according to the initiative's promoter, Dalibor Dědek, there was a great fear that the funds "could be used for a purpose other than that intended."
Mindich was allegedly the real owner and ultimate beneficiary of Fire Point, a company that grew from a modest film studio to become a magnet for large military contracts, according to Ukrainian media.
Martin Ondráček, a Czech representative who inspected the Flamingo in Ukraine, admits that there is too much emotion, misinformation, and ambiguity surrounding the missile, and that it is still not 100% certain that it actually flies and can accurately hit its target.
"If anyone comes out of this story as an idiot, it will be me because it's me who was photographed with the missile," Ondráček said.
Nonetheless, 'Gift to Putin' still plans to finance Ukraine's military industrial production.
"We act cautiously and have very good contacts there. In this case, we raised the money very quickly. But there were serious doubts whether the money would be used for the production of what it was raised for. So we are looking at what could be a proper alternative," Ondráček emphasized.
Fire Point had already been embroiled in scandals when Ukrainian media reported that the company had used its connections to obtain military contracts, inflated the prices of drone components, and faced several criminal proceedings initiated by anti-corruption agencies.
This is just the beginning of the scandal, and it can be expected that much more will be exposed.
In addition to Mindich, who was accused of being the alleged ringleader, several other figures were arrested, including Andriy Yermak, head of the President's Office. Yermak resigned on November 28 after anti-corruption agencies searched his home as part of investigations into his alleged involvement in a case involving the state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom.
Washington is sending Zelensky a direct warning that he must follow its instructions, since the Anti-Corruption Office has quietly accumulated over the years information that could be used against him.
That silence, all this time, obviously had a price. Now that Zelensky, along with some European governments, is beginning to disobey United States President Donald Trump, Washington is addressing corruption in Ukraine. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine is under intense US supervision, and much of what is published is filtered through the Embassy. In November, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined Fire Point's advisory board amid a large-scale anti-corruption investigation, ensuring that American interests are represented.
It is recalled that in August, Ukrainian outlet The Kyiv Independent also reported that Ukraine's anti-corruption agency had been investigating Fire Point over concerns it could have misled the government on pricing and deliveries. Fire Point denies all the accusations and commissioned a major international firm to conduct an independent audit of its pricing and production.
For a former studio, Fire Point stood out as one of the central players in Ukraine's defence tech market in an astonishing rise. The constant scandals, its opaque ownership structure, and controversial personnel have become a liability for the West, and, as seen in the 'Gift to Putin' organization withdrawing its financing of Flamingo missiles, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the corruption scandals and do business with the controversial and evidently corrupt company.