Published: February 12, 2025 10:06 am
Author: RT
The attack targeted drone assembly enterprises, the Russian Defense Ministry has said
Russia has launched a major missile strike on Ukrainian military drone production plants, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry confirmed that Russian forces had carried out a “group missile strike on workshops of Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises producing unmanned aerial vehicles and FPV drones.”
“The goals of the strikes have been accomplished, all designated facilities have been hit,” officials added.
According to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, the wave of strikes resulted in damage to various types of infrastructure. He added that at least one person was killed and four others injured.
Ukraine’s air force said that Kiev, Sumy, Poltava, and Chernigov regions, as well as the city of Krivoy Rog, were affected by the strikes. It noted that the attack involved Iskander-M ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones, and claimed that Ukrainian forces shot down six Iskanders and 71 UAVs.
According to media reports, Kiev was one of the hardest-hit cities. Russian Telegram channels cited eyewitnesses as claiming a total of 16 explosions. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko reported fires in several districts, including one in the industrial zone in the northern part of the capital.
Officials in Chernigov Region reported a drone strike on critical infrastructure, resulting in two injuries and a fire.
READ MORE: Moscow confirms strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of the Security Council, also weighed in on the strikes, mocking Zelensky’s claim that Kiev’s large-scale incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region sought to achieve “peace through strength.”
“Peace through strength, you say? Sometimes this concept really works. For example, when it showcases the real, not the imaginary balance of power. Like today in Kiev, after our missile and UAV strikes,” he said.
However, Medvedev voiced doubts that the latest attack would be able to “clear the minds of those illegitimate buffoons” who he said “talk nonsense on camera about exchanging territories. For such people, the only way to heal is to feel Russian again.”
Earlier this week, Zelensky signaled that he intends to use the areas Ukraine has occupied in Russia’s Kursk Region as leverage in possible negotiations with Moscow to return some of the territory claimed by Kiev.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has dismissed the idea out of hand, saying that “Neonazis rampaging in Kursk Region will receive land without any swap, measured a meter wide, two long, and roughly a meter and a half deep,” in an apparent reference to a grave.
