Ukraine launched devastating cruise missiles that struck one of Russia’s main weapons factories Saturday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed that Kyiv was “definitely” not losing the war.
The overnight attack on the Kremlin-owned Votkinsk machine building plant — a manufacturer of Moscow’s ballistic missiles that sits 860 miles deep inside Russia — marked the deepest Ukrainian strike into Russian territory using domestically made weapons.
Kyiv fired Flamingo missiles, which can reportedly travel nearly 1,900 miles — even further than the coveted US Tomahawk missiles Ukraine had desperately tried to purchase from the Trump administration.
Shortly before the strike, the weapons maker shared a video showing the launch with the cryptic caption, “No context. Context – later.”
“And here is the context,” Denys Shtilierman, co-owner of Firepoint — the company that produces the high-powered Flamingo missile — posted a few hours later to X, while also reposting the Ukrainian army’s confirmation of the strike.
Black smoke was seen rising from the plant, as Russian locals reportedly heard at least three blasts during the night and windows shatter in nearby buildings.
Zelensky, meanwhile, announced from Kyiv’s presidential palace that his forces had liberated more than 100 miles of Moscow-occupied territory in a counteroffensive in the south of Ukraine.
“You can’t say that we’re losing the war,” Zelensky told the AFP in an exclusive interview Friday. “Honestly, we’re definitely not losing it, definitely.”
“The question is whether we will win,” he added. “That is the question — but it’s a very costly question.”
His comments came as the deadliest conflict since World War II nears the grim four-year anniversary since Russian troops invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.
Trilateral talks with the US in Geneva earlier this week failed to make any progress.
Territorial concessions remain the sticking point, with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin refusing to budge on his demand to control the entirety of the frontline mineral-rich Donbas region — a nonstarter for Kyiv, which says agreeing on a cease-fire based on the existing military positions is the more pragmatic option.
“Both the Americans and the Russians say that if you want the war to end tomorrow, get out of Donbas,” Zelensky said.
Moscow has seized all of Luhansk and 80% of Donestk — the two eastern Ukraine regions that make up the Donbas.
The next round of trilateral talks has not been set, but Zelensky said he hopes for more negotiations before the end of the month.
“It is already our compromise that we are speaking with the aggressor about compromises,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on X. “They took almost 20% of our territory. And we are ready to speak about peace at this moment, on the basis of ‘Stay where we stay.’ This is a big compromise.
“What does Russia offer us as a compromise? They said, ‘We are ready not to occupy your other regions.’ But it is terrorism. Even that language, it is terrorism. ‘I’m ready not to kill you – give us everything.’”
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