Ukraine’s domestically developed FP-9 ballistic missile, designed to reach targets at distances including Moscow, will be operational this fall, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in an interview with Reuters.
Zelensky stated that he contacted the leadership of Ukrainian defense manufacturer Fire Point to urge the expedited finalization of the FP-9, following the combat debut earlier in the week of the shorter-range FP-7 tactical ballistic missile.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
“I told them: where is my FP-9? We need the FP-9. And the FP-9 will be [ready] this autumn, I am confident,” Zelensky said.
The president added that Ukraine plans to intensify precision strikes against Russian oil refineries to counter an expanded aerial campaign by Moscow aimed at forcing residents to evacuate Kyiv and other urban centers ahead of winter.
Citing intelligence documents, Zelensky said Russian President Vladimir Putin approved an operational directive expanding strikes against a wider array of civilian targets, including roads, transportation links, schools, and hospitals.
“We have seen the documents and we know that they permit attacks on infrastructure, logistics, roads, schools, hospitals to force people to leave the capital, to leave different cities. This is the goal of the operation,” Zelensky said, attributing the shift in Russian tactics to frontline pressures and personnel losses in the Donbas.
Other Topics of Interest
Russian Billionaires Fund 1% of State Budget in ‘Voluntary’ War Levy
Russian billionaires donated $5.6B to fund 1% of state spending amid war costs.
Zelensky emphasized that while Ukraine will respond to Moscow’s attacks on its energy grid by targeting Russian energy infrastructure, Ukrainian forces will not conduct indiscriminate attacks on civilian sites.
“We must react in any possible way. To their attacks on our energy sector, we must respond with strikes against their energy sector. Above all – on oil refineries: that is what provides them money for this war. But we will certainly not, as they do, strike any civilian facilities,” Zelensky said.
Deep-strike operations and overnight engagements
Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian forces carried out long-range strikes early Saturday morning, Oct. 3.
According to the president, the overnight strikes engaged Russian Iskander missile launcher positions and personnel in the Bryansk region alongside targets in the Samara region.
“Over the past 24 hours, our long-range capability worked effectively against facilities operating for the aggressor’s war machine,” Zelensky stated on social media, adding that Ukrainian operations also produced new results in the Black Sea, without disclosing operational specifics.
The confirmed strikes follow an ongoing campaign by Ukrainian defense forces targeting rear logistics, air surveillance networks, and missile batteries deployed in Russian border regions.
Fire Point development and the FREYJA initiative
The deployment timeline for the FP-9 follows Ukraine’s first operational combat use of the FP-7 tactical ballistic missile on Thursday, Oct. 1.
Manufactured by Fire Point, the baseline FP-7 carries a 150-kilogram warhead across an operational reach of approximately 200 to 250 kilometers.
Fire Point founder and chief designer Denys Shtilerman previously compared the platform to the US-manufactured Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), noting that the sovereign weapon is produced at roughly half the acquisition cost with domestic manufacturing spanning rocket motors and flight guidance systems.
Fire Point officially announced the development of both the FP-7 and the longer-range FP-9 in September 2025, conducting initial flight trials of the FP-7 in February 2026.
Prior to its combat deployment, Fire Point Chief Executive Officer Iryna Terekh confirmed that the FP-7 had completed roughly 15 test launches and final Defense Ministry certifications.
The defense contractor also serves as the industrial hub for the European FREYJA initiative, launched in July alongside nine partner nations to build low-cost ballistic missile interceptors.
Under that program, Fire Point is developing the FP-7.X high-speed interceptor variant, aiming for unit production costs below €1 million ($1.2 million) to reduce reliance on scarce US-supplied Patriot batteries ahead of planned operational interception trials in 2027.