The Progress rocket and space complex was hit by FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles on August 15. OSINT researchers published photos clearly showing the results of the strike, UNN reports.
During the night of August 15, the Defense Forces struck the Progress rocket and space center in Samara—the only enterprise in Russia for the serial assembly of Soyuz-2 family launch vehicles.
According to the CyberBoroshno OSINT community channel, the impact probably hit Building 106A. It is part of the Soyuz launch vehicle production complex. Building 106A operates to a high cleanroom standard: onboard electrical equipment, instruments, and printed circuit boards are installed here—in effect, the launch vehicle’s “nervous system”: its control system, cable network, and instrument compartment.
“Without this stage, the rocket cannot be assembled, even when the body and tanks are ready,” analysts emphasize.
The scale of the damage: a crater 85 meters long and 35 meters wide.
Building 106B, which houses final assembly, is also located nearby.
“Such a facility takes longer to restore than ordinary production. Fire, soot, and fire-extinguishing water in a high-cleanliness facility mean not roof repairs, but requalification of clean zones, recertification of the production process, and renewed particulate-contamination control—months, not weeks,” the CyberBoroshno community emphasizes.
Sanctions must also be taken into account, since the onboard electronics of the Soyuz vehicles depend on imported components and an element base subject to supply restrictions, which cannot be purchased additionally today.
Against the backdrop of confirmed strikes on Russian missile production facilities by Flamingo missiles, Russians are already comparing it with the Tomahawk missile. In terms of range and warhead mass, the Ukrainian missile even surpasses its American counterpart—creating significant problems for the Russian rear and forcing the enemy to resort to information countermeasures and actively promote the narrative that the FP-5 is not highly effective at overcoming air-defense systems. In the case of Progress alone, the missiles had to cover at least 900 km to reach the target—that is, pass through air-defense systems along the entire route.
The CEO and CTO of Fire Point, the missile manufacturer, ironically remarked: “The Big Four is auditing our books. The renowned Russian war machine is auditing our operations.”
As analysts note, Progress’s strategic importance lies in its uniqueness. It is the only assembly point for the entire line of Soyuz-2 launch vehicles, which Russia uses both to launch and replenish its military orbital constellation (the Liana signals intelligence and targeting system, and the Persona/Razdan optical reconnaissance systems), and for its own “Starlink”—the Rassvet satellite internet service from Bureau 1440, deployed exclusively using Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicles. There is no duplicate of this production facility.