The group strike was launched overnight and destroyed aviation weapons and ammo, Moscow has said
FILE PHOTO: The Admiral Essen fires Kalibr cruise missiles © Sputnik / The Russian Ministry of Defense via Sputnik
An overnight barrage of missiles has destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot, the Russian Defense Ministry reported during a daily briefing on Monday.
The “group attack” by Russian Navy assets involved long-range precision munitions, according to the ministry’s statement. The target stored aviation weapons and other military supplies, it added, offering no further details.
The Ukrainian military reported detecting Russian Kalibr missiles incoming from the Black Sea early on Monday morning. Hours later the national Air Force claimed intercepting two of these as well as two Kh-59 air-launched missiles fired by Russian warplanes.
“There has been a hit at a civilian industrial object in the Poltava Region,” the statement added, without explaining what weapons were responsible.
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The head of the local administration Dmitry Lynin said an “entire workshop” was destroyed in the strike. He reported that at least three people were killed and two injured, while another remained missing. Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko claimed that the targeted facility was a butter factory with a night shift on duty.
Ukrainian military spokesperson Natalya Gumenyuk identified the source of the Kalibr missiles as the Russian frigate Admiral Essen and accused Moscow of choosing the nighttime for the launch as a method of “hybrid warfare.”
The Russian military has denied Ukrainian claims that it selects non-military targets for its attacks. Moscow has said it seeks to minimize Ukrainian civilian casualties in the hostilities and has accused the US and its allies of standing in the way of peaceful resolution of the conflict.
