Russian military retaliates for Kiev’s ‘terrorist attacks’ – MOD
The Russian military has launched a series of major strikes targeting Ukrainian military facilities as well as related energy infrastructure, the defense ministry in Moscow said in a statement on Thursday.
The attack came a day after Ukrainian forces launched a massive strike involving hundreds of drones as well as HIMARS missiles and glide bombs targeting civilian infrastructure in several Russian regions. Most projectiles were intercepted, according to the defense ministry. However, at least six civilians, including a woman, were injured by shrapnel and blast waves in Russia’s Belgorod Region, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
The Russian response on Thursday involved air- and land-based long-range weapon systems as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to the ministry. The attack reportedly targeted Ukrainian drone production and storage facilities as well as infrastructure used for military needs.
Russian forces struck a total of 147 locations, including a Ukrainian airfield, military infrastructure facilities, bases and foreign mercenary camps, the defense ministry said, without elaborating on the exact targets.
Ukrainian media said the strikes hit the nation’s capital, Kiev, as well as the central city of Dnepropetrovsk and the Black Sea port city of Odessa. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko blamed the attacks for the ongoing energy crisis in the capital, where thousands of buildings remain without heating. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky had previously said that the mayor had only himself to blame for the low level of preparedness for such emergencies.
Ukraine has been experiencing power disruptions for weeks, as Moscow aims to disable its arms production capacity to curb deep strikes against Russian civilian targets.
Last month, Moscow agreed to temporarily suspend strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure as a gesture of goodwill at the request of US President Donald Trump to facilitate peace talks.
Ukraine, however, has not scaled down its cross-border attacks. In January alone, Ukrainian attacks killed at least 79 civilians, including three children, and injured 378 people, according to Moscow.
