Flamingo missile reportedly strikes explosives plant in Russia's Samara Oblast
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Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
A Ukrainian Flamingo missile reportedly struck the JSC Promsintez explosives production plant in Russia's Samara Oblast on the morning of March 28, Russian Telegram media channels reported.
Photos and videos published on social media by local residents appear to show a large fireball emanating from the production plant, located in the city of Chapaevsk. A photo published to social media by Russian Telegram media channels purportedly shows the FP-5 Flamingo missile approaching the plant.
Amid the reported strike, Samara Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev warned of a missile threat on the region. Explosions were first reported by local resident around 6:30 a.m. local time.
The Kyiv Independent cannot immediately verify the reports of the strike nor the weapon used in the attack.
Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the reported strike.
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.
With a 1,000-kilogram warhead and a 3,000-kilometer (1,864 miles) stated range, the domestically produced Flamingo has promised to dramatically enhance Ukraine's long-range strike capability.
The JSC Promsintez explosives manufacturing plant is located approximately 750 kilometers from the Ukraine-Russia border.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously called the weapon Ukraine's "most successful missile." He claimed then that mass production of Flamingo missiles would begin in the winter of 2025-2026.
On Feb. 20, Ukraine used Flamingo missiles to strike the Votkinsk plant in Russia's Udmurtia Republic, where Russia produces the Iskander-M ballistic missile system, one of the key elements in Moscow's mid- and long-range strike arsenal.
