Is it a missile? Is it a drone? What’s the Pelican used by Ukraine?

The use of the Pelican has sparked interest among military analysts about whether it was a tactical ballistic missile or a drone.

Workers in Kotelniki in the Moscow region clear up debris near a damaged high-rise apartment building hit by what authorities described as a Ukrainian drone strike, September 20, 2026. [Reuters]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday’s large-scale strike on Russia involved several weapons, including a “Pelican” for the first time.

In a post on X on Sunday morning, Zelenskyy wrote that long-range attacks on Moscow’s region had a “very significant impact”.

list 1 of 3 Trump signs sweeping Russia sanctions over Ukraine war

list 2 of 3 Could US pull one-third of troops from Europe? What that would mean

list 3 of 3 Russia’s elections are more than political theatre

“One of Russia’s key oil industry facilities and the aggressor’s logistics facility were hit. These are billions of dollars that sustain the war machine. The systems used included FP-1, RZ-100, MICH-2000, Palianytsia, Vendetta, Liutyi, Bars, Flamingo, Sichen and Pelican,” he said.

The attack on the final day of voting in Russia’s parliamentary elections killed at least three people. Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 1,600 drones were intercepted, 450 of them heading for the capital.

However, the use of the Pelican has interested military analysts about whether it is a tactical ballistic missile or a drone.

Here’s what we know:

What is a Pelican missile and why is there confusion?

Speaking at the 34th International Defence Industry Exhibition in Poland last week, the CEO of Ukrainian defence firm Fire Point said Ukraine could start deploying its FP-7 tactical ballistic missile to target Russia in weeks, reported The Kyiv Post.

Iryna Terekh explained that the new weapons could strike targets 200km (125 miles) away and carry a warhead weighing up to 150kg.

The FP-7 system is ground-launched and has a maximum projectile speed of 1,500 metres per second. Fire Point founder and chief designer Denys Shtilerman told Ukrainian media back in March that the system is cheaper than the US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy also said last month that they expected to use their first domestically produced ballistic missile as early as in the autumn.

So far, there is no official confirmation that the FP-7 tactical ballistic missile is the Pelican, but Ukrainian media, such as The Kyiv Post, has linked the two together.

The New Voice of Ukraine reported on Sunday that Fire Point, the Ukrainian company that also produces the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile, had earlier this year applied to register the Pelican trademark.

However, the RBC-Ukraine news agency, citing unnamed sources, reported on Sunday without elaborating that the Pelican was an aircraft-type drone.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the Ukrainian media reports.

What is Ukraine’s weapons production like?

In February, Ukraine’s defence ministry said that the domestic weapons industry had demonstrated “unprecedented growth”, with production capacity increasing 50-fold to $50bn.

“As a result, domestic manufacturers now meet over half of the Defence Forces’ needs for weapons and military equipment,” the ministry said.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy posted on X that the military counterintelligence unit at the Security Service of Ukraine has developed a new interceptor drone that had been “successfully deployed” against Iranian-made Shahed drones used by Russia throughout the war to target Ukraine.

“Step by step, we are moving forward to give Ukraine greater protection. I thank all the developers and manufacturers who work every day to scale up the weapons we need,” he said.

In March, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said more than 70 per cent of Shahed-type attack drones were destroyed using interceptor drones in February.

The success of Ukraine’s drone interceptors also led to interest from Gulf states targeted by Iranian drones and missiles during the US-Israeli war.

How have attacks on Russia changed recently?

Both Russia and Ukraine have intensified attacks on each other’s infrastructure, targeting oil facilities and logistics hubs.

Ukraine has also repeatedly struck warehouses belonging to Russia’s Wildberries e-commerce giant since July, in what has been described as an attack on Moscow’s supply chains and to hurt the Russian economy.

On Monday, the Financial Times reported that US President Donald Trump spoke to Zelenskyy on Sunday, urging him to stop attacking Russian refineries over concerns that it was worsening the global shortage of diesel and causing fuel prices to increase.

鹈鹕号的使用引发了军事分析人士的兴趣，他们想知道它究竟是战术弹道导弹还是无人机。

2026年9月20日，在莫斯科州科捷利尼基，工人们正在清理一栋受损高层公寓楼附近的瓦砾。当局称，该公寓楼遭到乌克兰无人机袭击。[路透社]

乌克兰总统泽连斯基表示，周日对俄罗斯的大规模袭击动用了多种武器，其中包括首次使用的“鹈鹕”无人机。

泽连斯基周日早上在 X 网站上发帖称，对莫斯科地区的远程攻击产生了“非常重大的影响”。

列表 1/3 特朗普签署全面制裁俄罗斯，以回应乌克兰战争

列表 2/3：美国能否从欧洲撤出三分之一的军队？这意味着什么？

俄罗斯选举不仅仅是政治作秀（共3条，此为第3条）

他说：“俄罗斯一处重要的石油工业设施和侵略者的后勤设施遭到袭击。这些设施价值数十亿美元，是维持战争机器运转的关键。使用的系统包括FP-1、RZ-100、MICH-2000、Palianytsia、Vendetta、Liutyi、Bars、Flamingo、Sichen和Pelican。”

在俄罗斯议会选举投票的最后一天，袭击事件造成至少三人死亡。莫斯科市长谢尔盖·索比亚宁表示，超过1600架无人机被拦截，其中450架正飞往首都。

然而，鹈鹕导弹的使用引起了军事分析人士的兴趣，他们想知道它究竟是战术弹道导弹还是无人机。

我们目前掌握的情况如下：

什么是鹈鹕导弹？为什么会有人感到困惑？

据《基辅邮报》报道，乌克兰国防公司 Fire Point 的首席执行官上周在波兰举行的第 34 届国际国防工业展览会上表示，乌克兰可能在几周内开始部署其 FP-7 战术弹道导弹以打击俄罗斯。

伊琳娜·捷列赫解释说，这种新型武器可以打击 200 公里（125 英里）外的目标，并可携带重达 150 公斤的弹头。

FP-7系统为陆基发射系统，最大弹丸速度为每秒1500米。火点公司创始人兼总设计师丹尼斯·施蒂勒曼早在3月份就告诉乌克兰媒体，该系统比美国制造的陆军战术导弹系统（ATACMS）地对地弹道导弹更便宜。

泽连斯基上个月还表示，他们预计最早在秋季就能使用第一枚国产弹道导弹。

目前还没有官方消息证实 FP-7 战术弹道导弹就是“鹈鹕”导弹，但乌克兰媒体，如《基辅邮报》，已经将两者联系起来。

乌克兰新之声周日报道称，生产 FP-5 火烈鸟巡航导弹的乌克兰公司 Fire Point 今年早些时候申请注册了 Pelican 商标。

然而，乌克兰 RBC 新闻社周日援引未具名消息人士的话报道称，鹈鹕无人机是一种飞行器类型的无人机，但并未详细说明。

半岛电视台无法独立核实乌克兰媒体的报道。

乌克兰的武器生产情况如何？

今年2月，乌克兰国防部表示，国内武器工业取得了“前所未有的增长”，产能增长了50倍，达到500亿美元。

“因此，国内制造商现在能够满足国防部队一半以上的武器和军事装备需求，”国防部表示。

周六，泽连斯基在 X 上发帖称，乌克兰安全局的军事反情报部门研制出一种新型拦截无人机，该无人机已“成功部署”用于拦截俄罗斯在整个战争期间用于攻击乌克兰的伊朗制造的“沙赫德”无人机。

“我们正一步步推进，为乌克兰提供更强大的保护。我感谢所有为扩大我们所需武器规模而日夜辛勤工作的研发人员和制造商，”他说道。

今年 3 月，乌克兰武装部队前总司令奥列克桑德·瑟尔斯基表示，2 月份有超过 70% 的“沙赫德”型攻击无人机被拦截无人机摧毁。

乌克兰无人机拦截器的成功也引起了海湾国家的兴趣，这些国家在美以战争期间曾遭到伊朗无人机和导弹的攻击。

近期针对俄罗斯的袭击发生了哪些变化？

俄罗斯和乌克兰都加大了对对方基础设施的攻击力度，目标是石油设施和物流枢纽。

自 7 月以来，乌克兰还多次袭击俄罗斯电商巨头 Wildberries 的仓库，这被描述为对莫斯科供应链的攻击，旨在损害俄罗斯经济。

周一，《金融时报》报道称，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周日与泽连斯基通话，敦促他停止攻击俄罗斯炼油厂，因为担心此举会加剧全球柴油短缺并导致燃料价格上涨。