Czech initiative stalls purchase of missile from public collection due to uncertainties with manufacturer
The Gift for Putin initiative is reconsidering the planned purchase of Ukrainian Flamingo cruise missiles, for which it raised more than CZK 12.5 million in a public collection in honour of the late Dana Drabova. The reason for this is new information about the manufacturer, which the initiative received from the Ukrainian military intelligence HUR.
Flamingo missiles are manufactured by Fire Point, a company that several sources link to businessman Tyymyr Mindych, who is suspected of corruption in the Ukrainian energy sector.
The founder of the initiative, Dalibor Dědek, explained to iDnes that the money remains in the account and the organizers suspended the transaction the moment serious doubts arose as to whether the funds would actually go towards the product to which the donors had contributed. The initiative is now looking for an alternative solution.
Gift for Putin has long organised collections for armaments for Ukraine - donations have already funded, for example, the RM-70 Przemysl rocket launcher, the T-72 tank and the Black Hawk Chesmiri helicopter. In the case of the Flamingo, it initially counted on buying one missile, but later the manufacturer announced that it would deliver two. However, following new revelations, the project remains on hold until the initiative gains certainty about the reliability of the supplier.