Fire Point co-founder and chief designer Denys Shtylerman gave an interview to journalist Yanina Sokolova amid the scandal surrounding the "Mindich tapes," accusations from the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), and the development of the Ukrainian miltech company. The conversation quickly shifted into a hard talk format: Sokolova directly asked questions about Timur Mindich, contacts with the authorities, state contracts, deep strike drones, and the company's international projects. In response, Shtylerman explained why Fire Point considers the situation around it an information attack, how the "tapes" affected international negotiations, and stated that the best proof of the company's effectiveness is Ukraine's strikes on targets deep inside Russia – read the details in the UNN material.
Context
Denys Shtylerman's interview with Yanina Sokolova was released at a time when attempts are being made to drag Fire Point into a scandal. Following the publication of the so-called "Mindich tapes," the company began to be actively mentioned in the context of the "Midas" case, and assumptions appeared in the media about possible links between Fire Point and businessman Timur Mindich.
Shtylerman himself publicly reacted to the situation and appealed to the NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine) with a demand to confirm the authenticity of the recordings published in the media. According to him, the information circulating around the company is inaccurate and damages the reputation of one of Ukraine's largest manufacturers of deep strike weapons. Separately, he emphasized that Timur Mindich "is not and never has been" an owner or beneficiary of Fire Point.
"Did Yermak not ask you to help?" – how the conversation between Sokolova and Shtylerman began
From the very first minutes of the interview, it became clear that there would be no "warm bath" for Shtylerman from Sokolova. The journalist immediately stated that she had not watched previous interviews with the Fire Point co-owner because she considers them complimentary. Instead, according to her, she watched all the episodes by AntAC and "Ukrainska Pravda" about Fire Point and came to talk not only about missiles and deep strikes, but also about the "Mindich tapes," contracts, influence, and the reputational scandal surrounding the company.
Did Yermak not ask you to help?
The intensity only grew from there. At times, the discussion turned into an outright hard talk, and at certain moments, the interlocutors interrupted each other so emotionally that the conversation resembled an argument more than an interview.
However, it is interesting that even in such an atmosphere, Sokolova actually acknowledged that Fire Point is today one of the key Ukrainian defense companies.
Fire Point is an effective company that produces not only the missiles you all know, including the "Flamingo," which successfully strike the territory of the enemy country, but also drones. A whole layer of what Fire Point produces makes our country stronger
And here it is difficult to argue, if only because of the number of videos of strikes on Russian territory that are mass-published by Russian Telegram channels themselves. The FP-1 and other deep strike drones manufactured by Fire Point regularly appear in videos of "arrivals" at military facilities, oil refineries, logistics hubs, and infrastructure deep inside the Russian Federation.
Fire Point Capitalization: How Shtylerman Explained the Company's Success
One of the key parts of the interview concerned how Fire Point grew into one of the country's most prominent defense companies in just a few years. Shtylerman explained this not by political connections, of which they are accused by certain anti-corruption activists, but by reinvestment, scaling of production, and the effectiveness of the weapons.
According to him, the company did not withdraw the money earned but invested it back into production. This, as Shtylerman claims, allowed Fire Point to sharply increase its capacity.
We have increased our production capacity practically 10 times. And we simply reinvest everything we earn. We don't withdraw anything, we reinvest
Shtylerman also reported that Fire Point already has over 300,000 square meters of production space and more than 70 locations. This part of the conversation was confirmed by Sokolova herself; before recording the interview, she visited one of Fire Point's production facilities and saw how the company operates.
A lot of people work there, they are making deep strikes, drones, and missiles. That is, all of this is not just video, it really exists
Separately, Shtylerman emphasized that Fire Point's effectiveness is visible not only in production areas or financial valuations but also in the performance of the weapons they produce. According to him, the company produces drones that have better characteristics in terms of price, range, payload, and efficiency.
We produce drones that fly the furthest, carry the most, cost the least, and have the highest efficiency
That is why, Shtylerman insisted, Fire Point did not need a political "roof," intermediaries, or Mindich. His position boils down to a simple argument – when a weapon works and delivers results, it doesn't need to be "protected" through backroom deals. Watch a fragment of the interview in the video.
Fragment from the interview "WE WILL DESTROY RUSSIA! Fire Point Founder: Mindich, Flamingo, Freya and the end of the war. Denys SHTYLERMAN" on the Yanina Sokolova YouTube channel
Patriot missiles, Ukrainian style
Another important signal for Ukraine came from the USA. The American army is looking for cheaper interceptor missiles for the Patriot, costing up to $1 million per unit. In this context, the Ukrainian FP-7.x from Fire Point is mentioned, which could be considered as one of the options for future solutions in the field of missile defense.
In other words, while inside the country attempts are being made to drag Fire Point into a corruption scandal, the company's developments have already entered the sphere of international interest. And this, in fact, once again explains why information strikes against such a company can have consequences not only for its reputation but also for Ukraine's defense negotiations.
"Everything was on hold": Shtylerman on the delay of Fire Point's international projects
After the conversation about production, Sokolova moved on to AntAC publications and the consequences for Fire Point due to mentions on the "tapes." According to the company's co-founder, the Anti-Corruption Action Center sent information about Fire Point, including design documentation, to foreign embassies. Shtylerman called this unacceptable and stated that due to such actions, the company filed a report with the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine). Watch a fragment of the interview in the video.
Fragment from the interview "WE WILL DESTROY RUSSIA! Fire Point Founder: Mindich, Flamingo, Freya and the end of the war. Denys SHTYLERMAN" on the Yanina Sokolova YouTube channel
This refers to Freyja – a pan-European anti-ballistic shield project in which Fire Point expects to participate with its FP-7.x interceptor missiles. According to Shtylerman, the program was supposed to start as early as June 2025, but due to additional compliance checks, the actual launch shifted to February.
Instead of conclusions
Fire Point today is a company that, among other things, produces deep strike drones used for regular strikes on military targets deep inside Russia, while simultaneously working on Ukrainian ballistics, missile defense projects, and international defense programs.
At the same time, there are no official claims from law enforcement agencies against the company. NABU has not issued suspicions, conducted searches, or directly accused Fire Point of crimes. But after the leak of the "Mindich tapes," the company effectively found itself in a situation where it is forced to publicly explain that it is not involved in the scandal.
That is, instead of concentrating on scaling production, international contracts, and new developments, the company is also spending huge resources on information defense within the country.
Because in wartime conditions, even unconfirmed information noise around a manufacturer of deep strike weapons can cost not only reputation but also time, which in war is measured by the amount of weapons produced and the lives of our soldiers.