The retaliatory strikes came as Kiev seeks additional NATO funding for long-range attacks on energy infrastructure inside Russia
The Russian Defense Ministry has detailed the targets of its latest retaliatory long-range strikes inside Ukraine, saying that military-industrial facilities and energy infrastructure were hit.
The drone and missile barrage was carried out “in response to terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime” against Russia, the ministry said. According to the Russian military, the strikes targeted high-value sites in Kiev and Kiev Region, as well as airfields in Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Cherkassy, Chernigov, and Kiev Region.
The ministry said the targets in the Ukrainian capital included a major military drone manufacturer, a producer of radio equipment used in UAVs, an armored vehicle plant that also makes missile warheads, a shipyard producing naval drones, and a manufacturer of guidance components for Ukraine’s Neptune missiles.
In Kiev Region, Russian strikes targeted Vizar, a state-owned plant involved in maintaining air defense systems and long-range drones, as well as a fuel depot supplying gasoline and diesel to the Ukrainian military, the report said.
Ukrainian media earlier published several videos showing powerful blasts followed by secondary explosions, typical of military-grade munitions. The footage was said to show the aftermath of a Russian strike on the Vizar plant in Kiev Region.
The Ukrainian military reported direct hits by Russian projectiles at 34 locations, including strikes by 29 ballistic missiles, none of which it said were intercepted by air defenses.
The implicit admission of degrading Ukrainian anti-missile capabilities comes ahead of a NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, where members of the US-led military bloc are expected to discuss long-term aid for Kiev, which some members reportedly oppose.
Kiev has argued that expanding long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure could shift the balance of the conflict in its favor, provided it receives billions of dollars in additional Western funding.
Moscow maintains that Ukraine’s manpower shortages are worsening and that prolonging the conflict serves only the corrupt interests of officials with access to foreign aid.
