Ukraine launched a barrage of its newly developed FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles deep into Russian territory overnight, striking a military plant that supplies components for drones and missiles, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Wednesday. The attack on Cheboksary, more than 900km from the front line, left three people injured, according to local officials.
“Overnight, Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingos hit a military plant in Cheboksary that supplies the occupier’s army with components for drones and missiles,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram, sharing footage that appeared to show a missile streaking toward its target and plumes of smoke rising over the facility. Ukraine’s military later identified the plant as VNIIR-Progress, a sanctioned enterprise that produces antennas for Shahed-type attack drones, Kalibr cruise missiles and Iskander-M ballistic missiles.
“Ukraine strikes Russian military plant 900km inside Russia with homegrown Flamingo missiles, injuring three.”
The strike was part of a coordinated assault that also hit the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery in the Samara region — a facility that processes around 3.7 million tonnes of oil annually and fuels Russia’s military-industrial sector. Ukraine’s military said it additionally struck a Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in the Black Sea, the Moscow-occupied port of Mariupol, and two oil infrastructure facilities in the Vladimir region, over 700km from the border. Attacks on the Lobkovo and Vtorovo facilities could cause fuel shortages, posing a threat to Putin's popularity at home.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces damaged a key bridge between the Arabat Spit and the divided Kherson region, blocking traffic on a vital supply route to Crimea, which Russia has occupied since 2014. Nighttime trains were stopped in Crimea and a curfew imposed, an unwelcome move for the Kremlin as it risks deterring Russian tourists.
Russia’s military said air defence units intercepted or shot down 326 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine’s air force reported downing 181 of 207 Russian drones, but admitted 21 direct hits across 14 locations. At least two people were killed and 26 injured, including two children, in four Ukrainian regions over the past 24 hours.
The FP-5 Flamingo, first shown to the world in August 2025, has a range of up to 3,000km and a warhead weighing up to 1,100kg. Its use remains relatively rare, but together with Western allies, Ukraine has been actively developing other missiles to maximise the costs of Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in 2022, and force Moscow to seek a settlement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far rejected all negotiation proposals, insisting last week that Russian troops were advancing everywhere on the vast front line — despite evidence showing the front has been virtually static for months. “Protection for Ukraine is a prerequisite for diplomacy to work,” Zelensky posted on X, as the strikes underscored Kyiv’s growing ability to turn the tables on a war now reaching deep into Russian soil.