Russia launches ‘massive' strike on Ukrainian defense industry
Russian forces carried out a large-scale overnight strike on Ukrainian industrial facilities involving long-range weapons and drones, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported on Sunday. The Ukrainian authorities and media confirmed the attack, with some suggesting it was one of the largest since the escalation of the conflict in 2022.
In a statement reporting the operation, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces had 'conducted a massive strike, involving high-precision long-range air-, sea- and land-based weapons, including the aeroballistic hypersonic Kinzhal missile system, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles, targeting Ukraine's military-industrial and oil-processing facilities.'
The ministry didn't provide any further details, but stated that the 'strike goals were achieved. All designated targets were hit.'
Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the attack in a post on Telegram, claiming that it involved 477 Russian explosives-laden drones and 60 missiles of various types. He used the occasion to once again call on Kiev's Western backers to provide it with more air defense systems.
Zelensky also revealed that Kiev lost a Western-supplied F-16 fighter jet while attempting to fend off the attack. The pilot perished in the incident.
Meanwhile, in a post on X, Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezuglaya accused the country's military leadership of 'murdering' fighter pilots by allegedly failing to develop effective anti-drone protocols.
According to the Ukrainian military's tally, more than 20 incoming rockets and 40 UAVs made it through the country's air defenses during the strike.
In a post on Facebook, Stepan Kulinyak, the head of the military administration in the city of Drohobych in Lviv Region in Western Ukraine, said that 'as a result of the air attack, a fire broke out at an industrial infrastructure facility.' Officials in the region stated that the strikes did not cause any casualties but that critical infrastructure was hit.
In Poltava Region, an industrial site in the city of Kremenchuk reportedly came under attack.
While Ukrainian officials have not provided any details about the type of facilities hit and the extent of the damage inflicted, some local media outlets have pointed out that there are oil-processing plants in both Drohobych and Kremenchuk, and that they were likely the targets of the strikes.
Social media users have been posting videos purportedly depicting the Russian strikes and their aftermath in several Ukrainian regions.
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