The state-of-the-art cruise missiles have destroyed an arms depot in north-western Ukraine
© Russia’s Defense Ministry
The Russian military has used its Kalibr cruise missiles to target an arms and hardware depot in Zhytomyr Region in north-western Ukraine, the Defense Ministry has revealed.
The high-precision strike was carried out early on Saturday by an unnamed small missile ship in the Black Sea, obliterating a Ukrainian military facility, according to officials.
The Ministry also shared a clip of the vessel firing four missiles into the dark skies in rapid succession.
© Russia’s Defense Ministry
Kalibr cruise missiles, which have been widely used by Russia during its military operation in Ukraine, exist in several modifications.
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They can be fired from ships, submarines and planes, and used against a variety of land and water-based targets.
Some versions are also capable of going into a supersonic sprint in the final stage of flight, making it increasingly hard for air defense systems to tackle them.
Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in late February following a seven-year standoff over Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the breakaway Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered Minsk Protocols were designed to regularize the status of the regions within the Ukrainian state.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join NATO. Another goal of the military operation is to “denazify” the country, according to Moscow. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it had been planning to retake the two republics by force.
