Ukraine claims long-range strikes on Russian airfield and rocket plant

Ukraine has said its long-range missiles struck a Russian military airfield and a rocket production facility that supports Moscow's development of a satellite internet network similar to SpaceX's Starlink.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Flamingo cruise missiles were used in the attack on the rocket centre, located roughly 900 kilometres from Ukraine's border. He described the strikes as part of Kyiv's broader effort to weaken Russia's war-making capacity by targeting sites deep within its territory.

"It is important that Russia's war potential be reduced," Zelenskiy said in a social media post, adding that the airfield housed aircraft used to attack Ukraine.

Ukraine's General Staff reported direct hits at both the airfield in the Nizhny Novgorod region and the Progress rocket and space centre in the Samara region, saying fires had broken out at both locations. The General Staff said the Samara plant produces rockets used to launch satellites for the Rassvet broadband network, which Russia is developing as an alternative to Starlink. Starlink operates in Ukraine but not in Russia, and has given Kyiv a significant edge in drone operations and battlefield communications.

There was no immediate confirmation of the airfield strike from authorities in Nizhny Novgorod. In the Samara region, local officials said air defences had repelled a "massive missile attack." Ivan Noskov, head of the regional capital, said industrial infrastructure had sustained localised damage, without specifying which site was affected. Emergency services were working at the scene, he said.

Earlier, the regional governor said a missile had struck an unidentified industrial facility. Hours later, he said emergency services were still dealing with the aftermath.

The Progress centre has long been a key part of the Soviet and Russian space programmes, including the production of the Soyuz family of rockets.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While battlefield advances have slowed across much of the front this year, Russian forces continue to press towards key cities in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Both sides have stepped up long-range strikes against a range of targets.

On Saturday, Russia's defence ministry said its drones, missiles, and artillery had struck Ukrainian logistics centres, fuel and energy infrastructure, and assembly workshops for long-range drones and drone boats. A long-range drone storage facility in Ukraine's Chernihiv region was among the targets hit, the ministry said.

The reports could not be independently verified.