Russia strikes Kiev in retaliation for Ukrainian use of Western-made missiles – MOD
The Russian military has carried out missile strikes on targets in Kiev, in response to Ukraine's use of US- and UK-made missiles to attack internationally recognized Russian territory, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.
On Wednesday Ukraine fired six US-donated ATACMS and four UK-made Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles, provided to Ukraine by London, at the Kamensky chemical plant in Rostov Region in southern Russia, the ministry said.
In retaliation, the Russian military has struck a Ukrainian command center and targeted installations of US-supplied Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, Moscow claimed on Friday.
“In response to the actions of the Kiev regime, supported by its Western curators, this morning a combined strike with long-range precision weapons was launched,” a Defense Ministry statement read.
It targeted the Luch design bureau in the Ukrainian capital, which produces Neptun and Olkha missile systems, the ministry said.
“The goals of the strike were achieved. All targets were hit,” the statement added.
Witnesses reported hearing loud explosions in several areas in Kiev on Friday morning.
The missile attack was later confirmed by the Ukrainian capital’s military administration and Kiev mayor, Vitaly Klitschko.
Moscow’s stance towards “another spiral of escalation” caused by the West’s approval of Ukrainian strikes deep into Russia is well known, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday.
“You know that strikes had been carried out on Russia’s territory. President Vladimir Putin said that there would be a response [to such attacks] every time. You see that this response is coming,” Peskov stressed.
Last month, outgoing US President Joe Biden reversed his long-standing policy and allowed Ukraine to carry out strikes deep into Russian territory with American-supplied weapons. Similar approvals soon came from the UK and France.
In November, Russia used its new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile system, striking the Yuzhmash military plant in the Ukrainian city of Dnepr.
According to Moscow, the deployment of the state-of-the-art weapon was a response to the first attacks on its internationally recognized territory with ATACMS and Storm Shadows.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned at the time that if the Ukrainian strikes deep into Russia continue, Moscow reserves the right “to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow the use of their weapons against our facilities.”
However, Ukraine has since launched several other attacks with Western-made arms, with Moscow warning that they will also not be left unanswered.
