The Ukrainian drone missile Palyanytsya has already carried out dozens of successful strikes on Russian military depots. Another drone missile, Ruta, attacked a naval tower for the first time at a distance of over 250 kilometres.
But the greatest success is Lyutyy. Three hundred of them were used en masse, which is a serious operation, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 8 October at a meeting with journalists.
“We understand that Ust-Luga and Primorsk are now within reach. What happened, in my view, is really a major success. According to our data, the enemy’s gasoline shortage is up to around 20% of needs; estimates vary from 13 to 20% – but it is confirmed that the shortage is already significant. In our view, it is about 20% today. And in the past week – I won’t give numbers – we have used our Neptune–Flamingo pair. The corresponding results can be analyzed independently. We are not talking about en masse use of this pair. We are only saying that it has been used, and there are initial signs of such success with this particular weapon,” said the President of Ukraine.
Regarding the provision of drones to the Defence Forces, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that it is “normal.” There is a certain shortage. In FPV, the ratio to the Russians is 1 to 1. The Russian advantage is the number of people and UAVs on fibre optics. But Ukrainians are increasing their capabilities in this technology.
- The Palyanytsya drone missile was first announced in August last year. Its development was strictly classified, and no details were available. As of August 2024, Palyanytsya has been used against enemy targets in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. United24 reported that it took about 1.5 years to develop the drone missile. Palyanytsya is launched from the ground and is equipped with a turbojet engine, wrote Militarnyy.
- A little later, in winter, the Ruta drone missile was announced. At that time, it was undergoing testing.
- The Lyutyy drone is older than its predecessors, but it has been modernised. Lyutyy was successfully used against the Saratov oil refinery last year.
- The newest on the President’s list is the Flamingo missile. Its existence became known only a few months ago. The media wrote that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) was investigating its developer, Fire Point. However, the Bureau denied the investigation into the missile. As stated in the response, which is available to LB.ua, the pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings “is being conducted on the basis of possible criminal offences committed by officials of state authorities and local self-government bodies, and not with the aim of interfering in the economic activities of domestic manufacturers.”