Russia strikes Kiev rocket plant
Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported on Monday that it successfully carried out a missile strike on a rocket manufacturing plant in Kiev, which was being used to produce ammunition for multiple launch rocket systems.
The strike was carried out on Sunday with four high precision missiles, all of which reached the Artyom rocket-manufacturing plant, located in the Shevchenkovskiy district of Kiev, without damaging civilian infrastructure in the city, the ministry reports.
The authorities in Kiev reportedly tried to intercept the Russian high precision missiles using anti-aircraft weapons stationed around the city, including S-300 and Buk M1 anti-aircraft missile systems, which reportedly launched 10 rockets during the strike.
The ministry also noted that due to the apparent lack of communication between the anti-aircraft defense systems located in the city, two S-300 rockets were shot down by Ukrainian Buks, one of which fell on a residential building.
Western media outlets, including NPR and AP, reported on Sunday that it was Russian missiles that fell on “at least two” apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital, according to Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, who called the attack symbolic, ahead of this week’s NATO summit in Madrid.
Klitschko wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday that one person died and four people were hospitalized as a result of the incident, while 24 other residents were evacuated from the building.
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force claimed that Russian aircraft had launched up to six missiles at Kiev on Sunday and that two of them were intercepted mid-air.
Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
