Russian forces strike Ukrainian explosives plant
The Russian Defense Ministry has said its forces have destroyed an explosives factory in Ukraine. It also reported that Russian troops took out multiple pieces of hardware and artillery guns, including those provided by Western nations, and killed hundreds of Ukrainian service members in a single day.
In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said the explosives facility, as well as a radar, were among the targets hit by Russian Air Force jets, UAVs, missiles and artillery.
In addition, the Russian military is said to have advanced to more favorable positions in several villages in Donetsk Region within the past 24 hours. In those locations, the Ukrainian army lost at least three US-made М113 armored personnel carriers, several US-made М198 howitzers, and one Polish-made self-propelled artillery gun, among the other hardware, the ministry claimed.
Elsewhere along the frontline, Kiev’s forces supposedly lost two US-made M777 howitzers in Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions, along with several radio-electronic warfare systems.
The Russian strikes are said to have killed more than 1,700 Ukrainian troops across the country.
On Monday, the Russian military said it had launched a massive missile and kamikaze drone attack on Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, allegedly striking the Artyom military plant in Kiev, the Yuzhmash plant in Dnepr, and an unnamed factory in Krivoy Rog.
Earlier this month, the Defense Ministry reported that between June 29 and July 5, Moscow’s “high-precision” strikes had hit several Ukrainian air bases, including the Mirgorod military airfield in Poltava Region. According to the Russian military, the attack destroyed five of Kiev’s Su-27 fighter jets, with two more sustaining damage. Ukraine confirmed the strike, insisting, however, that the number of destroyed aircraft was lower.
Russian missiles and kamikaze UAVs are also said to have destroyed a number of energy infrastructure facilities, fuel and missile depots, and drone assembly workshops across Ukraine in late June and early July.
