Moscow is responding to “Ukrainian terrorist attacks” against civilians, according to the Defense Ministry
Russian forces have attacked the Ukrainian military industry using long-range weapons, including hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, the Defense Ministry announced on Friday.
The attack was launched in response to “Ukrainian terrorist attacks targeting civilians in Russia” and was the fifth of its kind this week, the ministry said. Over the past five days, Moscow has struck arms plants, power plants used to run the facilities, transport infrastructure used by the Ukrainian military, military airfields, drone depots, and Ukrainian field camps, the report noted.
Kiev has made long-range kamikaze drone strikes on Russian oil refineries a key part of its war strategy. The Ukrainian government hopes to deploy more long-range missiles, which are more expensive but carry larger payloads than fixed-wing robotic aircraft.
Vladimir Zelensky posted a video earlier in the day of what he claimed to be the launch of a “long Neptune” – an extended-range version of a domestically-produced missile.
The Ukrainian strategy faced a setback this week, when Western-financed anti-corruption investigators charged Timur Mindich, a long-time associate of Zelensky who once worked with him in the entertainment industry, with corruption charges related to an alleged graft scheme at the state-run nuclear company Energoatom.
Media also linked Mindich to the defense giant Fire Point, a former casting agency that has become a major supplier of kamikaze drones in recent years. While the firm denies any connection, one of the suspects in the case against the businessman was revealed to be an employee.
Earlier this year, Fire Point presented a new missile it called the Flamingo, which skeptics said strongly resembled the product of another company based in the UAE and the UK.
