KYIV, March 10 (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces struck a key plant producing missile components on Tuesday in Russia’s border region of Bryansk, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine’s military said British Storm Shadow missiles were deployed against the Kremniy El factory and posted a video which it said showed explosions and a fire at the plant. It said the facility produced critical missile components.
“Our fighters struck one of the important Russian military factories in Bryansk,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, referring to a report from top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“The plant produced electronics and components for Russian missiles. The very missiles that strike our cities, our villages and civilians,” he said.
The governor of Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said on Telegram that six civilians were killed and 37 injured and posted a video showing him at the scene.
Bogomaz made no mention of the plant in what he described as a “terrorist missile attack”. The injured were being treated in hospital.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the strike was premeditated and directed against civilians and challenged the U.N. to assess what had occurred.
The Ukrainian military’s general staff, posting on Telegram, described the plant as “a critically important link in the chain of production of Russian high precision weapons” producing semiconductor devices and integrated micro chips.
“The target was hit and significant damage to production facilities was recorded,” the General Staff said. “The extent of the damage is being clarified.”
The video posted on Telegram showed aerial images of a series of explosions and large fires over a large area near woods.
Reuters was able to verify the location with buildings, road layout and roundabout that matched the file and satellite imagery of the area.
Zakharova, writing on Telegram, said: “The Kiev regime deliberately struck at the civilian population. The U.N. Secretariat, which regularly comments on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis, cannot fail to see this.”
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, speaking on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s 2022 invasion this month, called for an immediate ceasefire as the the first step towards a just peace. He lamented the “cascading consequences of this blatant violation of international law”, referring to the Russian invasion.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Additional reporting by Monica Naime, Writing by Max Hunder; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Ron Popeski, Alistair Bell)
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