The attack comes after a series of Ukrainian drone strikes targeting warehouses belonging to a major Russian online retailer
The Russian military has struck a Ukrainian exhibition of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used in long-range attacks on civilian infrastructure deep inside Russia, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.
The strike came after a series of Ukrainian drone attacks this week on three warehouses belonging to major Russian online retailer Wildberries, that killed eight civilians and left more than 80 injured.
The exhibition was attended by “leading UAV developers and manufacturers, representatives of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Unmanned Systems Forces command, and members of the Ukrainian special services directly planning and carrying out strikes on Russian territory,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The Ukrainian Council of Defense Industry – an association coordinating cooperation between private arms manufacturers and the Ukrainian authorities – confirmed that a Russian strike hit a gathering of arms industry representatives.
Ukrainian Armed Forces spokesman Yury Ignat stated that two ballistic missiles hit a private shooting range in the Kiev Region where the event was being held. Valery Borovick, the founder of the Ukrainian private military contractor First Contact, also noted that an arms exhibition west of the Ukrainian capital had been struck.
Earlier on Friday, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky said that a “Russian missile strike” targeted the Kiev Region. He condemned the “brutal attacks,” without naming the target of the strike.
Ten people were killed and around 100 injured in the strike, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office. It announced the opening of an investigation into alleged negligence in the organization of the event.
Several Ukrainian Telegram channels claimed that the exhibition had been openly advertised online and offered online registration. What purports to be an ad for the event also surfaced online. According to Ukrainian media, the arms expo was allegedly organized by the drone manufacturers’ conglomerate Armada.
Russia has recently stepped up strikes on Ukraine’s military-industrial and logistical infrastructure in response to an increase in long-range Ukrainian drone attacks targeting civilians.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned Kiev’s drone raids as terrorist attacks.
