Russian strike hits Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer’s facilities

“UA new Russian missile attack took place against our country (…). They hit Motor Sich and our Khmelnytsky region,” Zelensky said in his daily speech broadcast on social media.

According to Zelensky, Russia fired Kinjal hypersonic missiles and Kalibr cruise missiles, “some of which were shot down”.

Motor Sich, a major aircraft manufacturer that produces engines for airplanes and helicopters, was nationalized by the Ukrainian Government in 2021.

In November 2022, the Ukrainian Government took direct control of the company, along with other companies of “strategic importance”, whose assets are managed by the Ministry of Defense to ensure the urgent needs of the Armed Forces.

The group’s headquarters are located in Zaporijia (south), in a region partially occupied by Russian forces.

It was not immediately possible to know whether the Russian attack hit the Motor Sich headquarters, but the governor of this region, Yuri Malachko, had previously indicated on the Telegram platform that the Russian attack had targeted an area on the outskirts of the city and had provoked a fire.

The governor said he had “no information about casualties”, adding that the extent of the destruction “is still being assessed”.

The Khmelnytsky region in western Ukraine, hundreds of kilometers from the front line and where an important Ukrainian military airfield is located, is regularly targeted by Russian attacks.

On Friday night, Ukrainian forces attacked a tanker carrying oil in the Black Sea, an operation for which Moscow has vowed retaliation.

In recent days, several Ukrainian drone attacks have targeted Russian ships in the Black Sea, the city of Moscow and the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014.

The Russian military offensive in Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24 last year, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since the Second World War (1939-1945).

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