Satellite Imagery Shows Damage at Votkinsk After Ukrainian Flamingo Strike, Zelenskyy Hails Success
Satellite imagery released after a long-range Ukrainian operation appears to show significant damage to a workshop at the Votkinsk missile plant in Russia’s Udmurt Republic. The images and accompanying official statements matter now because Kyiv says the strike was carried out with domestically made Flamingo cruise missiles that reached deep into Russian territory, while Russian authorities described widespread aerial interceptions that same day.
Satellite Imagery of Votkinsk Workshop
Ukrainian open-source groups published satellite imagery that appears to show a gaping hole in the roof of one workshop at the Votkinsk plant and signs of fire damage across the structure. The Votkinsk facility is known for producing ballistic missiles for the Iskander system and the submarine-launched Bulava, and the images were highlighted on a daily verification feed overseen by staff who use open-source intelligence, satellite imagery and data analysis to examine complex incidents.
Zelenskyy on Flamingo Range and Industry
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country struck a Russian military industrial plant with locally made Flamingo cruise missiles that he said flew nearly 900 miles to reach the target, and stated the missiles had a range of 1, 400 kilometres. He described the operation as a success for Ukraine’s defence industry and emphasised that the effort underscored Kyiv’s push to expand domestic weapons manufacturing as a complement to foreign supplies and as a future export sector.
Alexander Brechalov and Hospitalisations in Udmurt Republic
Russia has not issued an official confirmation that the plant was hit. Alexander Brechalov, governor of the Udmurt Republic, said that an unspecified facility in the region had been attacked on Saturday and that three people were sent to hospital. Brechalov did not identify the weapon used and warned of drone threats over the region.
Russian Defense Ministry and Intercepted Drones
Russian defence officials stated they shot down 77 Ukrainian drones during the same wave of strikes, while making no explicit public reference to incoming Ukrainian missiles. Kyiv declined to disclose the total number of missiles and drones launched that day, with Zelenskyy noting that there were interceptions by Russian air defences, missiles that were not intercepted and direct hits; he added that, in his view, all the missiles that were launched reached their targets.
USS Gerald R Ford, F-22s and Wider Military Movements
Separately, analysts tracking military deployments noted the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford departing the Greek port of Crete and moving toward the eastern Mediterranean as part of a United States military build-up near Iran. Aviation enthusiasts filmed three F-22 fighter jets taking off from RAF Lakenheath and heading toward Israel, and an expert assessing the footage said the F-22s could form part of an "air dominance machine" against Iran. Journalists Thomas Copeland, Richard Irvine-Brown and Alex Murray highlighted those movements on the same verification feed that publicised the satellite imagery of Votkinsk.
Flamingo Production, Capabilities and Operational Notes
Kyiv has compared the Flamingo to longer-established cruise missiles, saying it is cheaper per unit and pointing to an asserted longer maximum range of 1, 900 miles for some variants. The ground-launched Flamingo takes up to 40 minutes to prepare for launch. Manufacturer FirePoint, speaking in reporting from last October, expressed a hope to scale production to as many as seven missiles a day by the end of 2025. Kyiv also said earlier this month that recent Russian strikes had affected Flamingo manufacturing and that it needed to "work on increasing quantity. "
What makes this notable is that the combination of high-resolution satellite imagery, public statements by the Ukrainian president and regional officials, and open-source postings created a rapid, multi-layered picture of an operation that Kyiv frames as both a tactical strike and an industrial demonstration of its growing missile capability.
Beyond the imagery of Votkinsk, the verification feed also confirmed separate visuals of a shopping centre on fire in Zaporizhzhia after a wave of overnight Russian strikes, and flagged an example of artificial intelligence being used to circulate a false claim that a Mexican cartel had captured a woman who helped authorities track the cartel leader. Those items were presented alongside the imagery and military movement tracking as part of the same daily verification coverage.
