Ukraine Strikes Drone And Missile Plant In Cheboksary With FP-5 Flamingo Missiles

Ukraine said it carried out a missile attack deep inside Russia overnight, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles struck a drone and missile plant in the city of Cheboksary in the Chuvash Republic more than 900km from the front line.

“Ukraine drones target Moscow for 3rd consecutive day, mayor says, amid major attack Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down at least 326 Ukrainian drones”

ABC News

Zelenskyy said the strikes also hit the Moscow-occupied port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, a Russian oil refinery in Samara, and a “shadow fleet” oil tanker in the Black Sea.

ABC News

Russia’s military said its air defence units had intercepted or shot down 326 Ukrainian drones over a number of regions overnight, according to the Winn FM report.

The Los Angeles Times described the same Cheboksary attack as part of a wave of long-range missile and drone strikes that hit a drone-components factory and other energy sites hundreds of miles from the front, and it said Russia’s Defense Ministry downed 326 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The Los Angeles Times also reported that Zelenskyy said the FP-5 Flamingo long-range missiles hit the facility in Cheboksary, located in the Chuvashiya region more than 560 miles from the front line, while Oleg Nikolayev confirmed the missile attack without giving details.

Zelenskyy said on X that “We continue to apply Ukrainian long-range sanctions against Russian military facilities and the oil industry,” and he added that “last night Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingos struck a military plant in Cheboksary that supplies the occupier’s army with components for drones and missiles.”

The Euronews report said Cheboksary is the main city in Russia's central Chuvashia region, located around 1,000 kilometres away from the Ukrainian border, and it quoted regional governor Oleg Nikolayev saying, "Early this morning, Cheboksary came under rocket attack."

Actualités Ukrinform

Nikolayev told Telegram that he was working to determine the number of casualties and the extent of damage to infrastructure, while Politico and other outlets cited Astra’s reporting that the strike hit the VNIIR-Progress plant.

The Kyiv Post said Zelenskyy confirmed the use of FP-5 Flamingo missiles against a military-industrial facility in Cheboksary, which Russian independent media outlet ASTRA identified as the VNIIR-Progress plant, and it said the plant is linked to Kometa antenna systems used in Russian drones and precision-guided weapons.

In parallel, the ABC News report said Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it shot down at least 326 Ukrainian drones, while Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said emergency services were dispatched to sites where intercepted drones and debris fell and he did not note any damage or casualties from the attacks reported since Monday.

The Los Angeles Times said the audacious attacks underscored a drone-driven conflict that increasingly reaches far beyond entrenched front lines, and it described Russia’s response as overnight drone barrages on Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhzhia and Odesa.

“Ukrainian forces have carried out a missile attack deep inside Russia, hitting a major military plant overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said”

BBC

It also reported that Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said Ukraine had “found” additional air defense systems and munitions but declined to identify the countries that had agreed to provide them, and it said Kyiv was working to secure financing to purchase the equipment.

Euronews added that the attack on Cheboksary was part of a broader Ukrainian attack that also struck the Kuibyshev oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region and two oil infrastructure facilities in Russia’s Vladimir region, while Zelenskyy said the campaign targeted Russia’s military production base and energy sector.

United24 Media framed the Cheboksary target, VNIIR-Progress, as a bottleneck in Russia’s production of military strike systems and said it manufactures anti-jamming navigation components that help missiles and drones resist electronic warfare.

United24 Media argued that if the plant stops supplying its antennas, Russia will still be able to launch Shaheds and Iskanders at Ukraine but they will become easier to counter, and it said the broader focus includes destroying revenue-generating capabilities in Russia’s oil and gas industry that fund the war.