"We don’t have and won’t have 3,000 cruise missiles. President should be asked whether he was misinformed or task wasn’t fulfilled" – MP Kostenko
At present, the Armed Forces of Ukraine cannot receive thousands of FP-5 "Flamingo" missiles, as setting up mass production of this weapon has proven unrealistic.
MP Roman Kostenko from the Holos party, Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, stated this on Radio NV, Censor.NET reports.
The lawmaker raised the issue of mass production of Ukrainian cruise missiles in the context of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s earlier statements.
"I recently listened to what the President said. He said that we would produce 3,000 cruise missiles. I had my doubts at the time, and I now see I was right. I have extensive experience in the army and security services, and now working in the defense industry I understand — making statements is much easier than fulfilling them," Kostenko said.
No 3,000 missiles anytime soon
According to Kostenko, Ukraine does not currently have such a number of "Flamingo" missiles and will not in the near future.
"Let’s be clear, there will be no 3,000 cruise missiles. In fact, we don’t even have them now. I think we need to actually count how many we’ve built, unfortunately," the MP said.
Responsibility for statements
Kostenko added that those who made or disseminated such claims, or failed to meet the stated goals, should bear responsibility.
"Now the question must be asked to the President, was he misinformed when he made that statement, or did those tasked with fulfilling it fail to deliver? But I’ll say it again, it was unrealistic from the very start. Just calculate how much 3,000 cruise missiles would cost, if we’re talking about proper missiles," the lawmaker added.
