'Gift for Putin' — Czech public raises money for 1 Flamingo missile for Ukraine, Fire Point to provide 2
A Czech crowdfunding campaign has raised 16,1 million crowns ($756,700) for the production of a Flamingo missile for Ukraine, Czech media Idnes reported on Nov. 10.
The Flamingo is a domestically produced missile which was described by President Zelensky as "the most successful" ]missile Ukraine currently has. It has a claimed range of 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) and a 1,150 kilogram warhead.
The organisation "Darek pro Putina" (Gift for Putin) intended to collect 12,5 million crowns ($595,000) for one Flamingo missile, but fundraised 16,1 million in less than two days, spokesperson Martin Ondracek told Idnes.
According to Ondracek, the missile manufacturer, Fire Point, will provide two missiles, doubling the value of the donation.
The first missile will be named DANA 1 in honor of the late nuclear physicist Dana Drabova, a Czech physicist and politician who passed away last month. The second missile will be named DANA 2.
The additional funds raised — 3.5 million crowns ($166,000) above the initial goal — will be distributed based on a public social media vote.
The organization plans to ask supporters on social media whether to use the additional funds to purchase ambulances, plastic explosives, or a training aircraft for the Ukrainian army.
Outmanned and outgunned on the front, Ukraine has relied on its long-range capabilities, enabled by Western-provided weapons and its homemade drones, to hit deep in Russia's rear to disrupt its logistics and slowly grind down its fighting capability.
With Western military aid running low each year, Ukraine has turned to producing its own long-range weapons and has asked for financial backing from its allies, insisting that it has "all the knowledge."
Ukraine used Flamingo and Ruta long-range missiles in combat for the first time, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on Oct. 27.
While Zelensky praised Flamingo as the "most successful" missile in Ukraine's arsenal in August, the maker of the domestically produced missile, a deep-strike drone company called Fire Point, is tainted with controversy.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has been investigating Fire Point over concerns that it inflated the components' value or the number of drones it delivers to the army, or both, sources with knowledge of the investigation, who include current and former govrnment officials and industry representatives, told the Kyiv Independent in August.
Weapon production has been kept a wartime secret, making it difficult for independent investigations to scrutinize money flows.
Fire Point confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that the investigation exists but denied the accusations, downplaying its significance.
