Ukrainian missile attack on Russian defense plant

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a successful attack on one of Russia’s major defense plants in the Volgograd region was carried out with a Ukrainian-made ‘Flamingo’ missile.

In a statement on Saturday (June 27), he said the overnight attack caused a massive fire at the ‘Titan-Barricade’ factory, which manufactures artillery shells and missile launch system components.

At the same time, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency carried out a drone attack on the ‘Vtorovo’ oil pumping station in Russia’s Vladimir region. This is the second Ukrainian attack on the facility this month. The strategically important station was used as a major logistics hub for Russia’s domestic market and exports of fuel oil abroad.

Expressing satisfaction with the long-range strikes, President Zelensky said that Ukraine’s consistent pressure on Russia is finally laying the foundation for a dignified peace.

Ukraine has stepped up drone and missile attacks on Russian oil refineries and weapons factories in recent months in response to Russia's recent devastating attacks on Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kiev. The war, now in its fifth year, has spread across a frontline of some 1,200 kilometers, with Russian forces firing hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukrainian civilian infrastructure almost every night.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz said that several of its production facilities had been severely damaged by a series of Russian missile and drone attacks in the northeastern Poltava and Kharkiv regions over the past two days.

Zelensky also said that Russia had launched about 1,400 drones and 19 missiles targeting 15 regions of Ukraine in the past week. Strengthening air defenses and increasing drone cooperation with allied countries are now Kiev's top priorities to deal with the situation.

Source: Reuters.