Flamingo missile reportedly strikes Russian Shahed, Iskander component facility amid large-scale Ukrainian attack
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Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Ukrainian forces launched a missile and drone attack on multiple Russian regions overnight on May 5, reportedly striking a critical Russian military-industrial site in Cheboksary, Chuvash Republic, Russian Telegram media channels reported.
Photos and videos posted to social media by local resident appear to show a large fire emanating from JSC VNIIR-Progress, a Russian state institute that produces components for high-precision weapons used by Moscow to attack Ukraine.
Explosions were heard in the area of the facility following an air raid alert announcing a missile threat in the region. Russian Telegram media channels reported that a Ukrainian-made FP-5 Flamingo missile inflicted damage on the facility.
Local Governor Oleg Nikolayev claimed that one person was injured in the attack on Cheboksary.
The Kyiv Independent cannot immediately verify the reports nor claims made by Russian officials.
According to Ukraine's General Staff, the institute also develops electronic warfare (EW) systems, including the Kometa antenna arrays, used to jam satellite, radio, and radar signals.
The Kometa antenna is used in Shahed-type drones, Iskander-K cruise missiles, and guided aerial bomb modules — all high-precision weapons used by Russia to strike civilian and military targets across Ukraine.
The institute, which was previously struck in July 2025, is situated about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) away from the Ukrainian border.
The strike in Cheboksary comes amid a wider attack on various Russian regions with explosions reported in occupied Crimea, as well as in the cities of Voronezh and Kazan.
Leningrad Oblast Governor Alexander Drozdenko also reported that 18 drones were downed over Leningrad Oblast, with a fire reported in an industrial zone in Kirishi, a community located 115 kilometers southeast of St. Petersburg.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin also said that one drone was downed while approaching the Russian capital.
Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the reported attacks, and the extent of the damage caused was not immediately clear.
Ukraine regularly launches drone attacks against military and industrial facilities in Russia.
The Flamingo missile, built by controversial defense manufacturer Fire Point, has only been used by Kyiv on a handful of occasions since being first unveiled last summer, with its reported use increasing since November 2025.
Having previously been referred to by President Volodymyr Zelensky as Ukraine's "most successful missile," the domestically produced Flamingo is equipped with a 1,000-kilogram warhead and a 3,000-kilometer (1,864 miles) stated range.
Kyiv's latest large-scale attack on Russia comes one day after a Ukrainian drone hit a high-rise residential building in Moscow just seven kilometers west of the Kremlin and the city's central Red Square and three kilometers from the Russian Defense Ministry building.
The attack marked one of the deepest strikes into central Moscow's residential core since the start of the full-scale invasion, while occurring less than a week ahead of the May 9 Victory Day Parade.
