A large-scale drone attack targeted the city of Cheboksary in Russia’s Chuvashia Republic on Wednesday, according to the region’s head, Oleg Nikolaev. “This morning, an attack by unmanned aerial vehicles was recorded on the territory of Chuvashia, in the Novoyuzhny district of Cheboksary and in the Cheboksary (Yausky) district,” Nikolaev wrote on Telegram.
He stated the attack caused no casualties or damage to buildings, adding that “emergency and operational services are working on site.” Nikolaev subsequently reported a second strike against Cheboksary, urging residents “not to panic.”
Russian media outlet Astra, citing local residents, reported explosions in the city and published images showing smoke. Residents claimed a facility belonging to VNIIR-Progress was hit. The company, which operates within the ABS Elektro production group, supplies equipment to the Russian armed forces, and is reportedly a manufacturer of “Kometa” antennas.
The Kometa antenna, particularly in its Kometa-M version, is a Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna (CRPA) designed to resist electronic jamming. It’s used in a range of Russian equipment, including the Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones, Shahed-136 (Geran-2) kamikaze drones, and unified planning and correction modules for guided aerial bombs (UMPKs), making them difficult to intercept electronically.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed on Telegram that its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 43 Ukrainian drones overnight between February 17 and 18.
This is not the first reported attack on VNIIR-Progress. In November 2025, Ukrainian drones reportedly struck the grounds of the facility, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. A previous drone strike in June 2025 caused a fire on the premises, leading to a temporary suspension of production, according to Nikolaev.
In March 2025, a Ukrainian drone attacked an oil depot in Cheboksary, marking the first such attack in the Chuvashia Republic since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Governor Nikolaev reported at the time.
Nikolaev confirmed a drone attack in Cheboksary on February 18, 2026, but did not mention the VNIIR-Progress plant specifically. Streets in Cheboksary have been closed due to shelling, according to reports.
