The Czech volunteer initiative Darek pro Putina (Gift for Putin) has put its initial plans to buy a Flamingo missile for Ukraine using public donations on hold amid a corruption scandal in Ukraine and questions over the missile's effectiveness.

Source: Czech news website IDNES, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Gift for Putin initiative said that it has not yet transferred the CZK 12.5 million (approx. US$589,000) raised for Flamingo to its manufacturer, Fire Point, due to information it has learned in recent weeks.

Quote from Dalibor Dedek, co-founder of the initiative: "We are currently working this out. We are looking for an alternative and we are still in talks."

More details: Dedek said they paused the next steps after receiving information about the manufacturer from Ukraine's Defence Intelligence (DIU) and following reports by Ukrainian media linking the company to one of the suspects in "Mindichgate".

Quote from Dedek: "We are acting cautiously and we have very good contacts there. In this case, we raised the money very quickly. But serious doubts have arisen as to whether it will go to produce what it was raised for… So we are looking at what could be a proper alternative."

More details: In October, the initiative completed fundraising for the Flamingo missile in just two days; it was to be named after Czech politician and physicist Dana Drabova. Last week, representatives of the initiative, including co-founder Martin Ondráček, travelled to Ukraine to inspect the missile.

Ondráček now acknowledges that there are still "too many emotions, disinformation and ambiguities" surrounding the missile, including over how effective it is.

Quote from Ondráček: "We understand there are certain doubts about putting money into this particular missile because there are genuine suspicions that the manufacturer is linked to people around Andrii Yermak."

More details: Ondráček said that one possible solution would be to use the money to buy a missile from another manufacturer.

Ondráček also said that he does not believe there is now any risk that Czechs will be less willing to donate money for weapons for Ukraine.

Quote from Ondráček: "The money is still in our account. We guarantee that we will spend it on something we are 100% sure works and delivers results."

Background:

• It was reported earlier that Mike Pompeo, former US secretary of state, has joined the supervisory board of Fire Point.
• This summer, the Darek pro Putina initiative delivered a Black Hawk UH-60 helicopter to Ukraine after launching a fundraising drive for it in November 2023.
• The initiative is also known for raising funds for a modernised T-72 tank for Ukraine worth CZK 30 million (US$1.4 million), which was named Tomáš after the first president of Czechoslovakia.

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