New Delhi: Ukraine has used its new indigenously produced Pelican ballistic missile for the first time since the start of the war with Russia in 2022, while also firing Flamingo cruise missiles in an unprecedented attack on Moscow.
It is the largest attack by Kyiv since the start of the war, which came on the last day of Russia’s parliamentary elections.
Pelican, an FP-7 ground-launched ballistic missile, was designed and built in Ukraine by defence start-up Fire Point. This was the first time it was officially confirmed to have been used since its testing last month, according to reports.
The use of the Pelican and other indigenous drones is significant since this represents a massive escalation in Ukraine’s domestic defence production.
The Pelican targeted Russian S-400 radar stations, launcher batteries, and early-warning systems to neutralise air defences and enable long-range weapons to conduct deep strikes.
Ukraine targeted key industrial and logistical assets, including the Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya—which supplies around 40 percent of Moscow’s fuel—and the Sofyino Logistics Warehouse Complex.
“Our long-range responses had a very significant impact in the Moscow region last night. One of Russia’s key oil industry facilities and the aggressor’s logistics facility were hit. These are billions of dollars that sustain the war machine. The systems used included FP-1, RZ-100, MICH-2000, Palianytsia, Vendetta, Liutyi, Bars, Flamingo, Sichen, and Pelican,” Zelensky posted on X.
What is the Pelican?
The Pelican is a ground-launched tactical short-range ballistic missile with an estimated range of 200 to 350 km. Capable of carrying a warhead weighing up to 150 kg, the missile reaches high supersonic speeds reportedly of up to roughly 1,500 m per second. Ukrainian developers have compared its capability profile to the American-made Army Tactical Missile System ATACMS system.
The Pelican was deployed alongside other homegrown Ukrainian long-range strike systems, including the new Flamingo cruise missile, FP-1, Palianytsia, and hundreds of deep-strike drones.
Journalist Vasyl Pekhno said on The New Voice of Ukraine (NV) Radio that given its short range, the Pelican functioned as a path clearer for long-range weapons like the Flamingo.
This operation employed asymmetric air-defense saturation, a combination of asymmetric warfare and saturation attack tactics. Instead of engaging military assets with equally expensive counter-systems, Ukraine used cost-effective, mass-produced weapons to exploit the physical limits of air defenses.
By launching hundreds of aerial threats simultaneously from multiple directions, the attack overwhelmed tracking systems and depleted interceptor ammunition.
According to Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh, test flights for ballistic missiles must be conducted as combat trials due to limited domestic airspace, ranges, and time.
She stated at the MSPO 2026 International Defence Industry Exhibition in Kielce, Poland, that Ukraine’s defense industry routinely deploys prototypes of weapons and operational systems into live operations to gather immediate performance data on terminal guidance, radar evasion, and supersonic aerodynamics under real electronic warfare conditions.
In the weeks preceding the attack, Russian long-range missile strikes targeted Ukraine’s industrial base. The weekend strikes disabled Ukraine’s three remaining major steel plants in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, cutting total steel output by 90 percent and causing significant revenue losses.
Russian officials downplayed the incident, attributing the timing to election sabotage. The elections concluded over the weekend to elect members of the State Duma, as well as regional and municipal officials.
The Russian government stated it intercepted nearly 2,000 UAVs over the weekend. It claimed debris from these drones damaged the refinery and a residential high-rise, killing at least three people and injuring 20 others. The Defence Ministry subsequently vowed to intensify high-precision strikes against military targets in Kyiv.
Ashwin Shekhar is a TPSJ alum, currently interning for ThePrint.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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