Zelensky announced the strike in a post on his Telegram channel but did not disclose where it took place, what target was hit or when.
The FP-7 was developed by Fire Point, a private Ukrainian defense company. Its stated specifications include a range of up to 200 kilometers, a warhead of up to 150 kilograms, a maximum speed of 1,500 meters per second and a flight altitude of up to 65 kilometers. Its declared accuracy is up to 14 meters.
Fire Point chief designer Denys Shtilerman told Reuters in an interview that the FP-7 resembles the U.S. ATACMS missile system, which Ukraine uses in the war. The design draws on engineering solutions from the Soviet 48N6 anti-aircraft missile used in the S-300 and S-400 systems, though company CEO Iryna Terekh said the similarity to the original design is only about 20%.
The missile was unveiled in 2025, and in February a video appeared of a test launch from a ground-based launcher. The FP-7's ground platform can be mobile. By early August the missile had undergone about 15 test launches, including ground and laboratory checks, followed by flight tests.
At the MSPO defense exhibition in Poland, Terekh said the FP-7 had successfully completed testing and that a check under combat conditions would take place in the coming weeks. She also said another Fire Point development, the FP-9 missile with a range of up to 850 kilometers and a warhead of up to 800 kilograms, would be ready for combat use this autumn.
One episode has already caused confusion in reporting on the missile. On the night of September 20, Ukrainian forces struck Moscow and the Moscow region, and Zelensky said at the time that a "Pelikan" had been used in the attack. It later emerged that he was referring not to a missile but to a drone of the same name.