Ukraine claims missile strike on military-industrial facility in Volgograd, Russia

Ukraine claimed on Saturday that its missiles had struck a military-industrial facility in the southern Russian city of Volgograd.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on US social media platform X that his country’s FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles hit the Titan-Barrikady plant the previous night, claiming it resulted in a fire on the facility’s premises.

Describing the plant, Zelenskyy said it is a “just target for our long-range sanctions,” and that it is a “major industrial complex” where Russia produces artillery systems and specialized military equipment, including components for missile launch systems used in attacks against Ukraine.

“The reach of Ukraine’s long-range sanctions continues to expand. And it is precisely our pressure, day after day, that lays the groundwork for a dignified peace in the end,” he added.

Earlier, Volgograd Governor Andrey Bocharov wrote on Dubai-based social media platform Telegram that an unnamed production facility belonging to an enterprise in the Krasnooktyabrsky district of the region’s administrative center was damaged in an overnight attack.

“Unfortunately, there was a fatality as a result of today’s missile attack. The body of a plant employee was found during the cleanup operation,” Bocharov said in a later statement, adding that 11 others were hospitalized, leaving two in serious condition.

Bocharov also said that a search for another person at the plant is ongoing.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed in a separate statement that the country’s air defenses shot down 175 Ukrainian drones over 10 regions of the country, as well as over the Black Sea and Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.

Independent verification of both sides’ claims is difficult due to the ongoing war.