Ukraine’s new PINK strategy is changing the rules of deep strikes. Long-range drones are now paired with the devastating Flamingo missile, capable of traveling over 1,400 km and obliterating Russia’s critical missile production facilities, like Votkinsk. This deadly combination overwhelms air defenses and maximizes damage, giving Ukraine unprecedented leverage against Russia’s war machine. February 21 showed the first true proof of its power—but is this just the beginning of what’s to come?
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00:00It's raining Ukrainian missiles in Russia. Ukraine has unleashed an absolute storm of
00:05missiles so massive that it's blotted out the sun in Russia. Bases are burning. A hellscape
00:11has formed all across Russia, as all that's left of some of its most valuable military assets is
00:16scorched earth and the terrifying memory of what Ukraine just unleashed. Putin's war machine has
00:22been ripped apart as Ukraine has hammered everything from missile plants to drone factories.
00:26These strikes were massive. They've taken place throughout February. And they start in the
00:32occupied regions of Donetsk, where Ukraine launched American-made ATAKIMS missiles to
00:37utterly destroy Russia's plans to push forward, both in Donetsk itself and the nearby Zaporizhia
00:43oblast. RFU News reports on what Ukraine just pulled off, noting that Ukraine used its powerful
00:48American missiles to strike at the heart of the Russian 5th Combined Arms Army near the
00:53settlement of Novopatrivka in the occupied Donetsk region. That army oversees the Russian
00:58forces that are operating in southern Ukraine, with a particular focus on Hulia Pola and the
01:03Zaporizhia direction. Ukraine responded to the presence of the 5th Combined Arms Army using a
01:08powerful missile that packs a 230 kilogram explosive warhead, giving it more than enough power to
01:14destroy command and control centers, along with other hardened targets. It was a command center that
01:19Ukraine struck in Donetsk, as reported by Military Watch Magazine on February 25th.
01:24In a simultaneous attack that also included strikes against ammunition depots, unmanned aerial
01:29vehicle control points, and a separate command and observation post, Ukraine unleashed ATAKIMS for the
01:34first time in several months, following a period where it was thought that the country had run out
01:38of the US-made missiles. In fact, the last time that Ukraine used this weapon was back on November 18th,
01:44when it carried out a strike in Russia's Voronezh region. Russia hoped that would be the last time,
01:49it wasn't. An entire command center has been crippled in Donetsk, and that's just the start
01:54of Russia's woes. Stick with us, because we're going to be covering a litany of Ukrainian strikes
01:59that go deeper and harder than this ATAKIMS attack. But staying in Donetsk for a moment,
02:04what Ukraine did with its ATAKIMS strike is slow down the Russian forces as they increasingly focus
02:08on Zaporizhia and the southern sector. Both are anticipated to be targets for an upcoming spring
02:14offensive, which will accompany a separate offensive that should see Russia dedicate 100,000 soldiers
02:19to a deeper push into Ukraine's east. A Ukrainian official claimed on March 1st that
02:25the Kremlin has an ambitious plan to capture four of Ukraine's regional capitals. On the Russian docket
02:30are Zaporizhia city itself, along with Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odessa. Russia also still has vague
02:37plans to create a buffer zone in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine, which is something that
02:41Russia utterly failed to do during its summer 2025 offensive. Ukraine's ATAKIMS missiles flew to take
02:48out a command post that would have played a large role in helping Russia to make its intended pushes.
02:53Counterattacks throughout the Zaporizhia region have also forced Russian forces to withdraw from what
02:58would have been key launching points for this southern offensive. According to RBC Ukraine,
03:02control has been restored over 300 square kilometers or approximately 115 square miles of territory
03:09in the Hulia Polar and Zaporizhia directions in Ukraine as of February. The ATAKIMS strikes seen
03:15toward the end of the month makes it much harder for Russia to organize soldiers and retake that
03:19territory. And this is just the beginning. Ukraine's missiles have been flying all over.
03:24Next, we'll focus on a series of Ukrainian strikes that were designed to shatter Russia's entire drone
03:29ecosystem throughout February. And these weren't the only aspects of Russia's aerial might that
03:34Ukraine's missiles have devastated during the month, but we're going to get to that other aspect a
03:38little later in the video. First, Russia's drones. They've had a hell of a time during February.
03:43At around the time that the command and control center in Donetsk was left as a scorched pockmark,
03:48Ukraine was also launching missiles at the Katsha airfield in the occupied Crimean Peninsula.
03:53On the drone front, this airfield was a target because Russia is known to launch its Shahid
03:57long-range drones into Ukrainian territory from this very airfield.
04:01According to the Kyiv Post, this particular drone launch site was established at the end of September
04:052025, putting several of Ukraine's major cities at risk. The outlet mentions Mykolaiv, Kherson,
04:12and Odessa, all of which you might recognize from Ukrainian officials' claims that Russia is going
04:17to be focusing on these key regional cities during 2026. The issue Ukraine faced wasn't that Russia was
04:23launching Shahids. They've been doing that for most of the war. Ukraine's problem was that the Katsha
04:27airfield is much closer to Ukrainian territory than most of the sites that Russia has been using to
04:31launch drones up until now. Closer sites means shorter flight times for Shahids. And with those
04:37shorter flight times comes less time for Ukraine's air defenses to react and fewer risks of Shahids going
04:42off course due to the length of their flights. When Ukraine's missiles touched down on the Katsha airfield,
04:48they did so specifically because Ukraine is trying to eliminate this newly developed drone threat.
04:53A burning drone launch site isn't useful to Russia's forces. And as a nice little bonus,
04:57this latest Katsha strike followed on from one in mid-December, which saw Ukraine take out an
05:02AN-26 military transport aircraft. Ukraine is sending a clear message to Putin with these types of attacks.
05:09Crimea is vulnerable, and Ukraine is going to do everything that it can to destroy Russia's drone
05:14offensives. And to back that message up, Katsha wasn't the only drone-related target that Ukraine
05:19took out with its missiles and drones in February. RFU News adds that Ukraine also sent its projectiles
05:24in the direction of a factory located in the Tatarstan Republic, which is part of the Russian
05:29Federation. There was a lovely little piece of irony in this strike. Ukraine used drones to attack the
05:34Tatarstan facility that just so happened to look like the very Shahid-type drones that the facility is
05:38responsible for building. Russia would have seen a mirror image flying toward it. Only this particular
05:43image exploded, shattering any thought that Russia may have had that it is ahead of Ukraine in the
05:47long-range drone department. And as all of this was going on, we can head back into the Zaporizhia
05:52region. There, Ukraine also hit a storage and equipment depot located near the settlement of
05:56Vasilievka. That depot was linked to Russia's Rubicon unit, which may be the only Russian unmanned
06:01forces unit that is capable of stacking up against Ukraine's elite operators. Radio Free Europe
06:06Radio Liberty conducted a deep dive on the Rubicon unit back in September 2025, revealing how it's been
06:12wreaking havoc on Ukraine's troops. What makes Rubicon unique for Russia is that the unit is
06:17separated into several divisions. Rubicon has become Russia's elite technological unit operating in
06:22Ukraine and on the border territories of Russia, and it pulls that off by ensuring that every
06:26operator it has works with the best type of drone to suit their skill set. Those who work best with
06:31FPV
06:32drones, which are the short-range drones used on the front lines, focus on that department. Other Rubicon
06:36operators take control of Shahid drones, which they launch from the occupied regions of Ukraine,
06:40Ukraine toward Ukraine's cities and energy infrastructure. Rubicon is also responsible
06:44for co-designing and testing many of the drones that it and Russia's other unmanned systems units
06:49use. In short, Rubicon is a major player for Russia. Ukraine's Vasilievka strikes snatch
06:55the drones that this unit uses away from Russia. After all, even the best drone operator in the world
07:00isn't much use to anybody when they don't have a flying death machine on the other end of their remote
07:03control. What we've seen with this trio of drone-centric Ukrainian strikes is a clear focus on both the
07:10and assembly lines of Russia's entire drone operation. Ukraine's goal here is to suppress
07:15Russia's drone fire rates across the front lines, in addition to guarding its urban centers and
07:20infrastructure against the long-range Shahid-type drones that Russia has been launching in massive
07:24numbers against Ukraine. And when we say massive, we really mean it. On March 1st, Pravda reported on
07:30comments made by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukrainians live under thousands of Russian
07:34strikes with various types of weapons. In the last week of winter alone, Russia used more than 1,720
07:40attack drones, nearly 1,300 guided aerial bombs, and over 100 missiles of various types against Ukraine,
07:48Zelenskyy revealed when discussing the final week of February. Ukraine's President also said that
07:52Russia had launched nearly 19,000 attack drones at Ukraine during the three months of winter,
07:57from December to February, which breaks down to roughly 6,333 per month. That's an enormous number of
08:04drones that overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses and ruin its energy infrastructure. When Ukraine unleashed
08:09its vast missile storm in February, wiping out Russia's ability to launch drones in such large
08:14volumes was very high on its agenda. As were Russia's own missiles, which we mentioned earlier in the
08:19video, we're about to reveal what Ukraine did to damage Russia's missile-based strategy. But before we
08:24do, this is a quick reminder that you are watching The Military Show. If you haven't subscribed yet,
08:29now is the perfect time to hit that button so you stay ahead of the curve.
08:33Next up, we head to the Vokhinsk plant, which is nestled in the Udmort Republic,
08:38about 1,400 kilometers or 870 miles away from Ukraine. Putin thought that the plant would be
08:44safe. No matter how well Ukraine defended itself on its own territory, it would never have the types
08:49of weapons that could not only travel almost 900 miles to reach Vokhinsk, but could do so and still
08:54be able to score direct hits against a facility that is responsible for building Iskander-M ballistic
08:59missiles, Oreshnik hypersonic missiles, and several more of the devastating projectiles that Russia
09:04has been launching at Ukraine almost from the moment that Putin began his brutal invasion.
09:08Putin was wrong. Ukraine has the Flamingo.
09:12And toward the end of February, this insanely powerful hybrid of drone and missile technology
09:17took flight. 870 miles was nothing for a weapon that has a 3,000 kilometer or 1,864 mile range.
09:25And once Ukraine's Flamingo missiles arrived at the Vokhinsk plant, they struck with the sort of
09:30immense fury that can only be delivered by a weapon carrying a warhead weighing 1,150 kilograms,
09:36or over 2,530 pounds.
09:39Vokhinsk never stood a chance. Reports suggest that Ukraine's missile Flurry took out a workshop that
09:44is responsible for processing the metal parts that are used in some of Russia's most dangerous ballistic
09:49and hypersonic missiles. In its live reporting on Ukraine's February 21 attack on Vokhinsk,
09:54the BBC shared satellite images that showcase significant damage done to the facility.
09:59We see an enormous hole in the roof of the workshop that Ukraine targeted, suggesting that Flamingo
10:04penetrated and then unleashed its enormous explosive warhead inside a facility that exists solely to
10:10ensure that Russia has a steady supply of missiles. There were even more strikes that Ukraine carried
10:14out during February, which we're going to cover in a minute, but this attack on Vokhinsk may be the
10:19most important of all. As damaging as Russia's hordes of drones are, it's Russian missiles that are
10:24responsible for the lion's share of the aerial destruction that Russia unleashes on Ukraine.
10:28We saw that in January, when Russia launched an overnight missile assault against Ukraine
10:33that included the hypersonic Oreshnik. This marked only the second time that Russia had used its
10:39terrifying missile, which is capable of traveling at speeds of over 13,000 kilometers or 8,000 miles
10:45per hour, and it was a devastating reminder that for all of its many faults and strategic blunders in
10:50Ukraine, Russia still has immensely powerful missiles that can do a lot of damage. Russia has also been
10:56ramping up its missile attacks against Ukraine. In the same statement where he revealed how many drones
11:01Russia has launched at Ukraine during the winter months, Zelensky added that Russia had also sent
11:06738 missiles Ukraine's way. That amounts to about 246 missiles per month, or an average of around
11:12eight per day. It looks like things have only gotten worse in February too. On March 1st, the Moscow
11:18Times reported that Russia had fired more missiles into Ukraine in February than it had at any other
11:23point during the invasion over the past three years. Ukraine had to deal with a 113% increase in missile
11:29attacks compared to the 135 missiles that Russia launched in January, suggesting that Russia is
11:34burning through its stockpiles for a Shokinor aerial campaign designed to cripple Ukraine.
11:39In that context, Ukraine's attack on Vokinsk becomes even more important. As long as Russia can't build
11:44more of the missiles that it used in February, its missile strategy has to slow down. The alternative
11:49for Putin is using up his country's missile stockpiles, resulting in nothing being left over
11:54until Vokinsk is up and running again. Of course, Ukraine will also be keeping an eye on the repair
11:58work at Vokinsk. And it wouldn't surprise us to see the Flamingo take flight once again when Russia
12:04comes close to fixing the damage that Ukraine caused at the facility. Ukraine's missile storm
12:08was unleashed on Russia's drone, missile and command capabilities. For most countries, that would be
12:13enough. Russia's war machine was left creaking by all of the strikes that we've covered so far,
12:18but for Ukraine, and as we told you earlier, there is no such thing as too many strikes against the
12:22country that is trying to strip away its sovereignty. More missiles and drones flew from Ukraine into
12:27strategic targets throughout Russia and the occupied territories in February.
12:31So let's wrap things up with a roundup of everything else that Ukraine achieved during
12:34the tail end of the month. First, the Russian region of Saransk saw Ukraine's long-range weapons
12:40descend. There, Ukraine hit a plant that supplies power electronics that are used in several of Russia's
12:45military systems. The Cheboksary Progress plant was again left in flames following previous strikes by
12:50Ukraine that have also taken the plant offline. Damage was caused and locals published images
12:55on social media showing the vast plumes of black smoke pouring out of the plant as a result of
13:00Ukraine's strike. In Perm, Ukraine was at it again. This time, the target was the Metafrax chemical plant,
13:06which absorbed a strike that caused multiple explosions, potentially ruining chemicals that
13:10Russia uses in missile construction. Among them would have been methanol, hexamine, formaline,
13:15synthetic resins and other chemicals that helped Russia build some of the most critical equipment
13:20that its soldiers need to make progress in Ukraine. Yet more strikes came. Ukraine also sent its
13:25projectiles into the Russian region of Miturinsk, where it struck another progress plant. This facility
13:31made navigation systems and gyroscopes, among other components, and it doesn't take a genius to figure
13:36out the types of weapons for which Russia requires these components. More Russian missiles were taken out of
13:41the skies by this attack, and the same result came from an attack that Ukraine conducted in the Ryedkino
13:46region of Russia. This time, Ukraine took out a facility that makes fuel components for Russia's
13:51Kh-55 and Kh-101 cruise missiles, both of which are often part of the massive missile bombardments that
13:57Russia launches against Ukraine. We're starting to run out of breath, but Ukraine hasn't run out of strikes
14:02yet. In both Nevenomysk and Voskorozhensk, Ukraine attacked chemical plants that create explosive
14:08precursors. And in Rostov-on-Don, Ukraine attacked the M-Pils industrial facility,
14:13leading to a spate of fires that spread so wide that they also affected rail infrastructure and
14:17oil storage tanks at the facility. And we're still not done. The Atlant Aero plant in Taganrog,
14:23which makes Russia's Orion drones and electronic warfare systems, was hit. Plants that make electronics
14:28and materials in Penza, Kazan, and Yelets also had visits from Ukraine's drones and missiles. And finally,
14:34Ukraine also caused a fire at a ship repair facility in Nizhny Novgorod, along with a fire at the
14:39Yefremov synthetic rubber plant, which makes polymers that Russia needs for its explosives
14:44and solid rocket fuel. Almost need to take a minute to recover after recapping all of that.
14:48What we're seeing here with all of this is a layered attrition strategy that has been supercharged by the
14:53emergence of missiles like the Flamingo, along with what appears to be the arrival of more US-made
14:58Atakums missiles in Ukraine. Every single one of the strikes that we've covered was designed to
15:03destroy Russia's ability to wage war. But rather than taking out troops and equipment,
15:07which Ukraine is also doing a very good job of, Ukraine is destroying the Russian war machine
15:11from the inside out. Missiles gone, drones destroyed, key facilities that make it possible
15:17for Russia to build its weapons are burning, perhaps never to operate again due to Ukraine's
15:21powerful aerial strategy. A country that has already mastered defensive attrition, as seen by the
15:26fact that Russia has lost over 1.26 million soldiers to Ukraine's defense, is now employing an
15:32offensive attrition strategy. Ukraine started all of this in 2025. Siesky said as much when rounding
15:38up the year, stating, This year proved we are capable of systematically exhausting the enemy and
15:43significantly reducing his potential. The defense forces did not allow the aggressor to implement
15:48his plans, preserved Ukrainian strategic positions, and prepared the ground for further AFU operations.
15:54In 2026, Ukraine has kicked its attritional strategy into overdrive.
15:59February alone saw facilities and key military nodes across Russia and the occupied territories burn.
16:05Now, Putin has to be asking himself what the rest of 2026 has in store for him and his failing
16:10invasion. After all, Ukraine's attritional strategy has already led Russia closer to total defeat.
16:15We see that in the city of Vovchansk, where Ukraine's drones have erased most of Russia's tanks,
16:21leaving Putin's forces with the dreadful task of attempting to attack Ukraine with no armor.
16:25This is what total defeat looks like, as Russia crumbles under the pressure.
16:29Find out more in our video, and if you enjoyed this video, make sure you're subscribed to the
16:34military show so you never miss our latest uploads. And thank you as always for watching.
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