Ukraine says it attacked Russian rocket lab linked to Starlink-like network

KYIV- Ukraine said on Saturday its long-range strikes had hit a Russian military airfield and a rocket center that Kyiv says supports Russia's nascent Starlink-style satellite internet network.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Flamingo cruise missiles struck the rocket facility, about 900 km (560 miles) from Ukraine's border, as part of Kyiv's campaign to pressure Moscow to end the more than four-year war by targeting sites deep inside Russia.

"It is important that Russia's war potential be reduced. Peace is needed, and this must be evident in Russia – through concrete damage to specific facilities," he said in a post on X. He said the airfield hosted aircraft used to attack Ukraine.

'MASSIVE MISSILE ATTACK'

Ukraine's General Staff said direct hits were recorded at both the airfield in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region and the Progress rocket and space centre in Samara region. It said the strikes had sparked fires at both sites.

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 SpaceX's Starlink. Starlink operates in Ukraine, but not in Russia, and has given Kyiv a major advantage in drone operations and battlefield communications.

There was no confirmation of the airfield strike from authorities in Nizhny Novgorod. In Samara region, local officials said air defences had repelled a "massive missile attack".

"Samara's industrial infrastructure sustained localised damage," Ivan Noskov, head of the regional capital, said in an online post, without specifying which site was affected. Emergency services were working at the scene, he said.

Overnight, Samara's regional governor said a missile had struck an unidentified industrial facility. Seven hours later, at around 1215 local time, he said emergency services were still dealing with the aftermath, without providing further details.

The Progress centre has played a key role in the Soviet and Russian space programmes, including through 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, according to analysts, Russian forces continue to press towards key cities in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Both sides have meanwhile stepped up long-range strikes against a range of targets.

On Saturday, Russia's defence ministry said in the past 24 hours its drones, missiles and artillery had struck Ukrainian logistics centres and fuel, energy, and transport infrastructure used by the Ukrainian army, as well as 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.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Additional reporting and writing by Alessandra Prentice in London; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Mark Potter/Reuters