Former Russian Space Entrepreneur Producing Long-Range Missiles for Ukraine
Former Russian Space Entrepreneur Producing Long-Range Missiles for Ukraine
Executive Summary:
- On May 18, Dutch defense company Destinus unveiled plans to begin production on the Ruta Block 3 mini-cruise missile, offering a 1,242-mile range to provide Europe and Ukraine with a cheaper, mass-produced long-range strike capability.
- Destinus—founded by the former head of Russia’s first private space company, Mikhail Kokorich—pivoted to defense after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has since supplied thousands of drones and Ruta Block 1 mini-cruise missiles to Ukraine and Europe.
- Kokorich, who renounced his Russian citizenship in January 2024, says Destinus is developing long-range strike programs across Europe and aims to produce missiles faster and more cheaply than existing systems.
- In April, Russia labeled Destinus a military target, underscoring the company’s growing role in strengthening Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities and Europe’s defense-industrial base.
Destinus, a company owned by Mikhail Kokorich, the founder of Russia’s first private space company, has begun to produce long-range missiles for Europe and Ukraine. In January 2024, Kokorich renounced his Russian citizenship. Destinus has supplied drones and mini-missiles to Ukraine and European countries since 2022. It hopes to supplement expensive Western missiles, which are in short supply and for which Europe is heavily dependent on the United States. Kokorich has said, “Long-range strike is one of the largest sovereign capability gaps in European defense today.” On May 18, Destinus unveiled plans to begin production of its Ruta Block 3 mini-cruise missile system by the end of the year. Its range will be 1,242 miles, surpassing that of the U.S. Tomahawk at 994 miles, upon which Europe has long relied and which the United States administration has not approved for transfer to Ukraine (Destinus News, May 18). The Ruta program is expressly intended to transition long-range European missiles from limited stocks to sustainable industrial production, overcoming the previous shortages of costly, high-precision weapons that occur during a long-term confrontation (UA.news, May 18). The Ruta series is also designed to utilize International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-standard container launch architecture, which will allow missile launches from mobile land, sea, and stationary platforms (PravdaTUTnews, May 19).
According to Kokorich, Destinus is involved in long-range missile capacity programs in several European countries, and Ukraine is seeking deepened cooperation with them. Destinus’ goal is to create systems that will be “10 times cheaper” than existing ones. Besides cost, Kokorich is concerned with rapidly scaling up production, noting that the ability to replenish and develop weapons on an industrial scale during long-term high-intensity operations is a decisive factor (Kyiv24.news, May 18).
In the early 2000s, Kokorich founded and bought a series of retail chains, including Technosila. In 2012, he created the first private space company in Russia, Dauria Aerospace (Dauria Aerospeis, Даурия Аэроспейс). The company developed and launched ultra-small satellites for remote sensing of the Earth and navigation monitoring. Dauria launched its first two Perseus-M satellites in June 2014 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (Vedomosti, December 22, 2015). Dauria’s Perseus-M satellites are equipped with automatic identification system (AIS) units, a system for exchanging data between ships and land-based shipping services. The system can warn of possible collisions between vessels and allows the operator to transmit information about the location of the vessel and its identification number, course, speed, dimensions, draft, and destination (Vedomosti, June 18, 2014). In December 2012, Dauria signed a contract with Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, but two years later the cooperation ended, and in 2015 Kokorich sold his stake in the company (The Bell, October 19, 2018). Dauria’s success was such that, in mid-October 2015, it raised $70 million from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) investment fund Cybernaut to create a constellation of microsatellites called Urban Observer, which captured images of more than 100 cities around the world from space. Cybernaut is the only investor in Urban Observer (Vedomosti, December 22, 2015). In October 2018, Roscosmos filed a lawsuit against Dauria over the contract, and protracted legal action eventually forced the company to declare bankruptcy in February 2020 (CNews, February 4, 2020).
After leaving Russia in 2012, Kokorich worked in the United States and Switzerland. Kokorich has said that he left in part because of his support for the Russian opposition and the country’s deteriorating political climate (Nasa Niva, May 20). In 2017, he founded a space startup, Momentus, with Lev Khasis in California. He left the United States in 2021 after national security restrictions forced him to step down from Momentus, which develops dual-use technologies for civilian and military applications (Radio Svoboda, January 14, 2024). He founded Destinus in Switzerland in 2021, which initially developed high-speed aircraft and propulsion systems, but pivoted to defense manufacturing shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In January 2024, Kokorich renounced his Russian citizenship, writing, “It was a conscious decision driven by my fundamental disagreement with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the policies of Putin’s government” (LinkedIn/Mikhail Kokorich, January 12, 2024).
In 2025, Destinus moved its headquarters to the Netherlands and raised nearly $464 million, including loans from shareholders and a credit line of $58 million from the German Commerzbank. Destinus is in the process of raising another $242 million (The Financial Times, May 20). It has production sites in several countries and a staff of about 1,000 people. In 2025, Destinus acquired the Swiss startup Daedalean for $223 million to equip its hypersonic drones with satellite-free navigation systems, a key technology in next-generation warfare (Forbes.ua, October 25, 2025). Destinus has produced thousands of its long-range drones and Ruta Block 1 mini cruise missiles for European governments and deployment in Ukraine. Kokorich has said that Destinus is developing “long-range strike programs” across “multiple European countries.” Kokorich credits Destinus’s distributed production model and vertical integration for helping it rapidly scale production.
Kokorich predicted the extraordinary rise of drone technology in 2015, seven years before Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He said that the drone market will “very soon blow up the market of logistics, security, and law enforcement … The technological revolution in microelectronics, software, and micromechanics made it possible to democratize the creation of spacecraft” (Vedomosti, October 6, 2015).
Destinus plans to begin production of a new Ruta Block 2 rocket with a range exceeding 435 miles (700 kilometers) by the end of the year (LinkedIn/Mikhail Kokorich, April 23). The Ruta Block 2 will be part of a joint venture with Germany’s Rheinmetall, Europe’s largest defense company, which already operates in Ukraine (Rheinmetall, April 13).
In April, Russia’s Ministry of Defense published a list of 21 enterprises where it claims that drones for Ukraine are produced. Ukrainian and joint-venture factories producing drones are in the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Czechia, Spain, Italy, Türkiye, and Israel. Destinus was on the list. Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev called these factories legitimate targets for the Russian military (Gazeta.ru, April 15). Dutch Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Dylan Jeschilgöz-Zegerius subsequently visited the Destinus plant, saying that the Netherlands’ defense industry would not allow itself to be intimidated. He confirmed that Destinus produces drones and missiles for Ukraine (Gazeta.ru, April 17).
Kokorich was explicit about how Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine changed the focus of his company, writing:
Destinus did not begin as a missile company in the narrow sense … When the war began, we moved into long-range strike drones for one basic reason: to help Ukraine … [Ruta] emerged from urgent wartime requirements from Ukraine and was designed from the outset for serial production (LinkedIn/Mikhail Kokorich, April 13).
The company makes many of its own key components, including turbojet engines and warheads, rather than relying on a long line of suppliers (Oninvest, May 20). In the ceaseless quest for investor capital, Destinus has started fielding pitches from banks looking for roles on its planned initial public offerings (IPO), with Amsterdam as a possible listing venue (Bloomberg Businessweek, May 28). Destinus is working with Rothschild & Co. and UniCredit SpA to raise about $228 million ahead of the planned IPO.
On April 21, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that it is seeking to produce more than seven million drones this year as part of scaling up its defense-industrial capability (Aviation Week, April 21). Ukraine produced more than four million military drones in 2025. The United States produces about 1/50th of that volume (Forbes, April 26). On May 31, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is still hoping to conclude a major agreement to purchase advanced U.S. military drones, calling it a potentially huge game-changer. Zelenskyy said that combining the dramatic advancements that Ukraine has made with its drone technology because of its combat experience with the United States’ extraordinary military capabilities would be beneficial for both countries (CBS News, May 31). He wrote a five-page missive to U.S. President Donald Trump on May 25 asking him for more Patriot missile systems, contending that while Ukraine has considerable drone defense technology, it is lacking in ballistic missile defense (The Kyiv Independent, May 27).
Destinus has already produced thousands of its long-range drones and Ruta Block 1 mini cruise missiles for European governments and deployment in Ukraine. The company’s value is about cost—when asked if the cost ratio versus a Tomahawk or a Taurus is roughly one to ten, Kokorich replied, “Broadly, yes, and that ratio is the whole argument” (Corriere della Sera, June 1). Unsurprisingly, in October 2025, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a case of violent seizure of power and organization of activities of a terrorist community against Kokorich and other members of the Anti-War Committee of Russia because of their adoption of the “Berlin Declaration” on the need for a change of power in Russia (OVD-info, October 14, 2025).
Destinus’ innovative production program, incorporating low costs with weaponry that can be quickly produced in mass, will become an increasingly important element in defending Ukraine against Russia’s largely Soviet-era weaponry production rates. Ukrainian drone and missile technology is now bringing Moscow and St. Petersburg within striking distance; contributions by Destinus will only add to the growing miseries of Russia’s aerial defenses.