The Kyiv Independent Live in London: 
'We're not telling' — Ukraine won't say what first FP-7 ballistic missile strike hit
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Ukraine's domestically developed FP-7 ballistic missile has been used in combat against Russia for the first time, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 1.
"Ukrainian tactical ballistic missile. FP-7. First combat use. Thank you for the result. Next up: production. Glory to Ukraine!", Zelensky said, without providing any further details.
Asked what the missile struck, Zelensky's communications advisor told the Kyiv Independent: "We're not telling."
Manufactured by leading Ukrainian defense concern, Fire Point, the FP-7 ballistic missile is designed with a claimed range of up to 250 kilometers (155 miles), a top speed of 1,500 meters per second (3,355 mph), and a 200-kilogram warhead.
Speaking at a defense conference in Poland on Sept. 10, Fire Point CEO, Iryna Terekh, had said the FP-7 was due to enter service "within weeks."
The FP-7 is based on the Soviet-era 48N6 interceptor used in the S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, but uses modern components and manufacturing techniques.
"This will be an analog of ATACMS, probably even with a larger warhead. But it will cost at least twice as little," Denys Shtilerman, chief designer and co-founder of Fire Point, said in an interview in March.
Shtilerman emphasized the goal was to produce the system en masse. "If you produce two or three ballistic missiles a month, it makes no sense. It will not affect the front," he said.
"The FP-7 is designed for targets at the front line and in the immediate rear, such as headquarters and command posts, weapons storage facilities, military equipment (radar stations, electronic warfare systems, air defense systems, and missile launchers), drone launch sites and military infrastructure, including airfields within the missile’s range," Nazarii Barchuk, an analyst at the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, told the Kyiv Independent.
Fire Point has become an important Ukrainian domestic defense manufacturer since its founding in 2022, manufacturing a series of highly effective long-range drones and the FP-5 "Flamingo" heavy cruise missile, yet corruption allegations and questions about the ultimate ownership of the company have accompanied its rise.
