Illustrative image. (Fire Point)
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has launched an investigation into Fire Point, the company that produces the FP-1 fixed-wing, long-range suicide drone and the FP-5 “Flamingo” long-range, land-attack cruise missile, the Kyiv Independent reported on August 29.
The bureau is examining whether Fire Point inflated the cost of components or the number of drones supplied to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the news outlet said in its report, adding that investigators were also looking into possible links between the company and Tymur Mindich, co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio founded by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Until recently, the weapons maker was virtually unknown outside of Ukraine’s defianse circles, despite appearing to be one of the largest – if not the largest – recipient of Defense Ministry drone budget funds, according to documents obtained by the Kyiv Independent,” the reports reads.
Fire Point, founded in 2023, quickly became one of the Ministry of Defense’s key contractors. Its main product is the FP-1. The drone, which is guided via GPS-aided inertial navigation system, has a range of up to 1,600 kilometers and carries a warhead weighing around 120 kilograms.
Last week, the company unveiled the Flamingo which it claimed has a range of 3,000 kilometers and carries a warhead weighing 1,150 kilograms.
The stated specifications of the Flamingo, which appears to be an exact copy of a cruise missile design called the FP-5 previously exhibited by the United Arab Emirates-based Milanion, were questioned by many. The factory showcased by the company also turned out to be a warehouse rented very recently. Still, Zelenskyy described the missile as Ukraine’s “most successful” weapon.
“As part of the investigation, NABU is probing concerns that Fire Point inflated either the value of its components or the number of drones it delivers to the military, or both,” Kyiv Independent notes in its report.
Fire Point had told the Associated Press that it currently builds around one Flamingo every day and is aiming to get that rate up to at least seven by October. These claims also appeared to be highly questionable.
Separately, the company says that it produced around 2,000 drones last year. They were sold to the Ministry of Defense for UAH 13.2 billion (about US$320 million), which is one third of the ministry’s drone budget. It also claims that for this year, plans are in place to scale up production to 9,000 drones, another questionable number.
Unable to make any gains on the ground, Ukraine recently prioritised the development of long-range drones and missiles to attack targets deeper in Russian territories. With all the money pouring into Ukraine from Western backers, it is natural that those in the upper ranks of the regime would see a chance to further profit from the conflict.
The investigation into Fire Point is not surprising considering that corruption has always been one of the main problems of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex. This problem has only gotten worse since the start of the Russian special military operation.
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this is hilarious; they are investigating a company owned by someone in the movie business whose experience is creating fiction – and claiming that the numbers on their books are fictional! talk about laughing all the way to the bank……
again my post was censored the company building them in ukraine are only-assemblers -not- like firepoint in the usa.
google pays $300 on a regular basis. my latest salary check was $8600 for working 10 hours a week on the internet. z10. my younger sibling has been averaging $19k .he constantly works approximately 24 hours. i’m not sure how simple it was cde once i checked it
out…… https://bring2uphere1.blogspot.com/
young men between 18-22 started running from ukraina.
18-22 years old all young men they started to go to poland and germany and run from ukraina.
the men who are over 23 years old very upset and they started to pay money to corrupt politiks,
(23-24-25-26-27)
started paying money to corrupt politics
to able to show their ages under 22.
corruption circle rolling againnn
on that topic many avoided going into vladolfs nazi army.
ukraine is a financial black hole, everything that goes in there never returns.
actually, it’s a rabbit hole, whatever goes in pops up in accounts or real estate in countries far away.
banker magick to plunder the common man with wars and taxes
vladolfs asshole, everything that goes in there never returns. it’s like toilets stolen in ukraine they never returns either?
burgerland way more corrupt–we make corruption legal in lgbt americuntland
is those policies financially supported from krimlin?
is ukraine solving corruption, will that ever happen in russia?
it is understandable that ukraine is trying to delay the completion of their assignment, i suspect, partly because of the ongoing inflation in real estate prices. the good news for zelensky and his business partner/s is that while prices for luxury villas keep rising inexorably the outlook for em currencies is mixed so one might still pick up a bargain in say colombia or perhaps even the south of france in coming weeks.
one wonders if zelenski will try heading for gaza when the planned genocide is absolute
good thing ukraine is completely free of corruption. this sounds like another case of israel investigating israeli crimes again. now ukraine is using the same trick ? any guess what the investigation result will be?
ukraine was the most corrupt nation in europe before she initiated war with russia- do people think the endemic corruption would subside with billions being pumped in by the west. the west clearly knew this would happen. wasn’t scholz opposed to helping ukraine initially for that very reason until he was paid a visit and did a volte face overnight.
google pays $300 on a regular basis. my latest salary check was $8600 for working 10 hours a week on the internet. my younger sibling has been averaging $19k .he constantly works approximately 24 hours. i’m not sure how simple des it was once i checked it out…… https://born2up66.blogspot.com/