Fresh drone attack reported in Cheboksary, home to Russian defence plant Progress

Oleg Nikolayev, head of Russia's Chuvash Republic, has said a large-scale drone attack struck the city of Cheboksary, home to VNIIR-Progress, a company supplying the Russian armed forces.

Source: Nikolayev on Telegram; Astra, a Russian media outlet; Russian Defence Ministry on Telegram

Quote from Nikolayev: "In the morning, an attack by unmanned aerial vehicles was recorded on the territory of Chuvashia in the Novoyuzhny district of Cheboksary and in the Cheboksary district (Yaushi)."

Details: Nikolayev claimed that there were no casualties or damage to permanent buildings, but added that "emergency and operational services are working at the scene".

Later, Nikolayev reported a repeat attack on Cheboksary, urging residents "not to give in to panic".

Astra, citing local residents, reported explosions in the city and released photos of smoke.

Residents said there had been another strike on VNIIR-Progress.

The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that on the night of 17-18 February, its air defence forces intercepted and downed 43 Ukrainian drones: 21 drones were shot down over Bryansk Oblast, 6 over Belgorod Oblast, 5 over Kursk Oblast and 2 over each of Rostov Oblast and the Chuvash Republic. A further 6 UAVs are said to have been destroyed over temporarily occupied Crimea and 1 over the waters of the Black Sea.

For reference: VNIIR-Progress operates within the ABS Elektro production group. The company has been reported to manufacture Kometa antennas used by Russian forces to counter Ukrainian electronic warfare systems and safeguard their drones.

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