Russia strikes Ukrainian military and energy sites after Kiev kills children – MOD

An overnight Ukrainian drone raid killed two minors in the Russian Black Sea port city of Tuapse

FILE PHOTO. © Sputnik / Sergey Bobylev

The Russian armed forces carried out mass strikes on Ukrainian military and energy sites on Thursday in response to a drone attack that killed two children in the country’s Krasnodar Region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

Russian strikes hit facilities involved in the production of cruise missiles and medium- and long-range UAVs, the MOD said in a statement on Thursday, adding that energy infrastructure sites used to support Ukraine’s military were also targeted.

”In response to terrorist attacks by Ukraine against civilian targets on Russian territory, a mass strike has been carried out over the past day using long-range precision weapons launched from land, air, and sea, as well as strike drones,” the ministry statement read.

”The objectives of the strikes have been achieved. All designated targets have been hit,” it added.

The strike followed a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea port city of Tuapse, in which two children aged five and 14 were killed.

Ukrainian UAVs also targeted other coastal cities in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region, including Sochi, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics, and Dagomys, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said. An apartment block, a kindergarten, and five houses were damaged in what he called a “massive” drone assault.

Ukraine also attacked a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in Russian territorial waters, injuring the vessel’s captain, a Turkish national, who has been hospitalized, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced on Thursday.

Ukraine has frequently targeted Russian port infrastructure and energy facilities, as well as tankers and cargo ships.

Russia has accused Kiev of using Western-supplied weapons to target civilians, with the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday releasing a list of European companies it said are involved in manufacturing military drones for Kiev.

The ministry stated that, rather than strengthening the security of European states, the actions of some of the continent’s leaders were increasingly dragging their countries into a war with Russia.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned the European nations on the list that the facilities are “potential targets” for the Russian armed forces.