Former Russian Entrepreneur Changes the Rules of the Game in European Rearmament
In Europe, a new weapons manufacturer is rapidly gaining strength, capable of challenging traditional defense industry giants. Destinus, a company founded by Russian native Mikhail Kokorich, is betting on cheap and mass-produced long-range missiles and drones. Financial Times provides the details.
The Ruta Missile Block 1, developed by Destinus, on the company's stand during the first European Defense Industry Exhibition and Conference in Brussels (BEDEX), March 13, 2026. Photo: Omar Havana / Getty Images
Modern European defense faces a serious challenge — a critical shortage of its own long-range strike capabilities. Today, regional leader MBDA produces Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles with a range of about 500 km, but their stockpiles remain low. The international Elsa initiative, which unites six countries to create new missile systems, will only be able to yield results by the 2030s.
The situation was further exacerbated by the recent US refusal to deploy American Tomahawk missiles in Germany. Against this backdrop, doubts are growing stronger in Europe that the continent can continue to rely solely on American support for long-range strikes.
It was at this moment that Destinus, a company founded by Russian native Mikhail Kokorich, proposed its model — mass-produced and relatively inexpensive long-range systems.
From Supersonic Aircraft to Long-Range Missiles
The company was founded in 2021 to develop supersonic aircraft, but just a year later, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, it made a sharp pivot towards the defense sector.
Since then, Destinus has already produced thousands of long-range drones and Ruta Block 1 mini-cruise missiles, which are used by European governments and supplied to Ukraine. This has even led Russian authorities to include the company on a list of potential targets.
The next stage is Ruta Block 2 — a system with a range of more than 700 kilometers. Its production is planned to be launched by the end of the year together with the German concern Rheinmetall, one of the largest weapons manufacturers in Europe. The partnership should give Destinus access to a more powerful production base and help rapidly scale up output.
Ruta Block 3 has become an even more ambitious project. According to the company's plans, the new system will have a range of up to 2000 kilometers — more than American Tomahawks, which are capable of hitting targets at approximately 1600 kilometers. Flight tests are expected to begin next year.
According to experts, the company has a chance to occupy an important place in European rearmament. Douglas Barrie, a military aviation specialist from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, notes that the main advantage of Destinus is the real combat experience of its systems in Ukraine.
However, the main questions remain: how quickly the company can scale up production, with whom they will merge, and where they will get investments.
According to Kokorich, Destinus is already participating in several European programs for the development of long-range strike systems, although he does not name specific countries.
The Secret to Significantly Cheaper Production
Kokorich explains Destinus's ability to rapidly increase production volumes with a distributed manufacturing model and vertical integration.
The company produces many key components itself, including turbojet engines and warheads, instead of relying on a long supply chain.
According to him, this decision was partly influenced by a conversation with Elon Musk in 2012 during a visit to the SpaceX factory.
Destinus claims that this approach will, in the long run, allow them to produce systems that will be "ten times cheaper" than traditional Western counterparts, although Kokorich himself admits that this is not always achievable.
Who is Kokorich?
49-year-old Mikhail Kokorich did not plan to build a defense empire. He was born in Siberia in very modest circumstances, distinguished himself in physics and mathematics, and opened his first business while studying at Novosibirsk State University.
In the early 2000s, he created and acquired several retail chains, after which he ventured into the space industry. His company Dauria Aerospace became the first private space company in Russia. In 2012, Kokorich left Russia. He claims the reason was his support for the opposition.
After moving to the USA, Kokorich founded Momentus, a company involved in space transportation infrastructure. The project was supported by well-known investors, including the Y Combinator accelerator. However, before the company went public, Kokorich was forced to resign as CEO — partly due to issues from American regulators related to his then-Russian citizenship.
Mikhail Kokorich. Photo: kokorich / linkedin.com
In 2024, the entrepreneur agreed to pay a civil penalty of $2 million and received a five-year ban from holding executive positions in public companies as part of a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The case concerned allegations related to the company's disclosure of information. At the same time, Kokorich emphasized that he did not admit guilt.
After moving to Switzerland, he founded Destinus. Initially, the company focused on developing supersonic flight technologies. But after the start of the war in Ukraine, it finally transitioned to weapons manufacturing.
The transition to defense projects was not welcomed by everyone: some initial investors withdrew from the project. However, their places were taken by new investors — primarily European funds and family investment offices.
Last year, Destinus's headquarters were moved to the Netherlands. Since its inception, the company has raised almost 400 million euros, including a 50 million euro credit line from Germany's Commerzbank.
Today, Destinus has about a thousand employees in several countries, is already operating profitably, and generates revenues in the hundreds of millions of euros. According to Financial Times sources, the company is now trying to attract an additional 200 million euros.
Kokorich, who renounced his Russian citizenship in 2024 and became a citizen of Grenada, does not rule out new major deals. Destinus is already collaborating with Rothschild bank on further development and acquisitions. Last year, the company agreed to acquire the Swiss startup Daedalean, which develops autonomous control systems for aviation.
According to Kokorich, Europe currently lacks an industrial response to the scale of strikes Russia is inflicting on Ukraine. And there is less and less time left to create such a system.
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