Russia‘s Defense Ministry said today that its forces conducted a massive and successful strike on military and military-related targets in Ukraine overnight in response to Ukrainian “terrorist actions” against Russia.
The Russian Defense Ministry issued the statement after Ukrainian officials said Russia launched a barrage of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) against the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, in the early hours of today and that three people were killed.
Russia has accused Ukraine of being behind a deadly bombing on a bridge over a railway track in western Russia at the weekend that blew up as a train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow passed underneath.
Seven people were killed and 155 injured in the incident, for which Kiev has not claimed responsibility. Ukraine also attacked Russian bombers at air bases over the same weekend. President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump this week that he would retaliate.
The Kremlin confirmed today that the overnight strikes were in response to “terrorist acts” in Kiev.
“Everything that is happening within the framework of the special military operation (in Ukraine), everything that is being done by our military on a daily basis, is a response to the actions of the Kiev regime, which has acquired the characteristics of a terrorist regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Ukraine often accuses Russia of terrorism, citing attacks in which thousands of civilians were killed. Both sides say they do not target civilians.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in its statement that it used long-range weapons to strike Ukraine.
“In response to terrorist acts by the Kiev regime, the Russian Armed Forces conducted a massive strike overnight with long-range precision weapons from the air, sea and land,” the ministry said.
It claimed that the strike targeted “Ukrainian design offices, enterprises for the production and repair of weapons and military equipment, assembly workshops for offensive drones, air training and weapons centers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and military equipment depots. The purpose of the strike was achieved. All designated targets were hit.”
Russian troops also took control of the settlement of Fedorifka in eastern Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said.
Reuters could not independently confirm the information.
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