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.