Key facts
- Ukraine used Ukrainian-made Flamingo missiles to strike the VNIIR-Progress plant in Cheboksary, Russia.
- The plant produces components for Russian drones and missiles, including Kometa antennas.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the strike and vowed continued attacks deep inside Russia.
- The VNIIR-Progress plant is located approximately 1,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
- The strike was part of a larger coordinated attack that also targeted oil facilities in Russia.
Ukraine has struck a Russian military plant producing components for drones and missiles using its domestically developed Flamingo missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed. The VNIIR-Progress facility in Cheboksary, located in Russia's Chuvashia region approximately 1,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, was targeted.
Zelenskyy stated on X that "Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingos struck a military plant in Cheboksary that supplies the occupier’s army with components for drones and missiles." He vowed to continue "Ukrainian long-range sanctions against Russian military facilities and the oil industry."
The regional governor, Oleg Nikolayev, confirmed that Cheboksary had been subjected to a rocket attack early in the morning, stating that authorities were assessing casualties and damage. Local media identified the target as the VNIIR-Progress plant, which reportedly produces antennas for drones, satellite navigation receivers, and other components used in various Russian aerial systems, including Shahed-type attack drones, Kalibr cruise missiles, and Iskander-M ballistic missiles.
The strike on Cheboksary was part of a wider series of Ukrainian attacks that also hit the Kuibyshev oil refinery in the Samara region and two oil infrastructure facilities in the Vladimir region, both located hundreds of kilometers from the front lines. The Kuibyshev oil refinery processes a significant amount of oil annually and supplies fuel products to Russia's military-industrial sector.
The FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile, developed by Fire Point, is reported to have a strike range of up to 3,000 km and a warhead weight of up to 1,100 kg. Fire Point has also been developing a ballistic missile interceptor variant.