Ukraine’s army attacked a thermal power plant in southwest Russia overnight on Wednesday. Reports claim the devastating strike was carried out by a FP-5 “Flamingo” cruise missile.
The monster bomb can carry a payload of up to 1,150 kilograms and has a range of 3,000 kilometres. Residents in the city of Orel – located some 368 kilometres southwest of Moscow – reported hearing explosions near the thermal power plant. Video images appeared to show a number of fires burning at the plant, following the aerial bombardment.
The regional governor claimed the city had been attacked by drones, all of which were shot down by air defence systems and rejected claims they had targeted the power station.
“As a result of the work of air defence forces over Orel, enemy UAVs were destroyed,” Andrey Klichkov wrote.
“When their individual elements fell, several private houses and an outbuilding were damaged. Currently, there is no information about the casualties.”
A military analysts told the Telegram channel Astra that the attack was most likely carried out using missiles or modified drones.
“The attack on the thermal power plant was carried out using a rocket or a jet-powered UAV,” they said.
“The video does not show any air raid sirens, air defence systems, or the characteristic hum of a propeller-driven UAV.”
A Ukrainian war blogger connected to the country’s Main Intelligence Directorate claimed the strike was carried out by the Flamingo missile.
“Ukrainian-made FP-5 «Flamingo» cruise missiles visited Russian city Orel and struck thermal power plant,” they said.
Meanwhile, drones also attacked energy infrastructure in the suburbs of Vladimir, a city located east of Moscow.
The strike targeted the Vladimirskaya substation, a major regional energy hub with an installed capacity of about 4,010 MVA and a key node in the 110-750 kV power grid.
