Conducted major ‘retaliation’ strike on Ukraine, says Russia (Lead)

Moscow, March 9 (SocialNews.XYZ) Russia on Thursday said that it has carried out a major "retaliation strike" on Ukraine in wake of the "terrorist attack" on Russia's Bryansk region last week.

In a statement, the Defence Ministry said that the attack involved "high-precision long-range air, sea, and land-based weapons, including the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system", RT reported. The latter has a range of more than 2,000 km.

"The massive retaliation strike" hit key elements of Ukraine's military infrastructure, defence industry complexes as well as energy facilities that contribute to their operations, it said. "The mission has been accomplished. All assigned targets have been hit," the statement added.

The ministry went on to say that the barrage destroyed attack drone bases and disrupted the transportation of reserves and foreign weapons. The attack also disabled production facilities used for repairing military equipment and ammunition production, it claimed.

Ukraine had earlier in the day reported a wave of Russian airstrikes hitting several major cities across the country, from Kharkiv in the north, to Odesa in the south and Zhytomyr in the west.

Energy infrastructure had come under attack in a number of Ukrainian regions, Energy Minister, German Galushko, stated on Thursday morning.

Power-related sites in Kiev, Nikolaev, Kharkov, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, and Zhitomir Regions were struck by Russian missiles, Galushko claimed.

Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said explosions had taken place in the western and southern districts of the capital city, adding that emergency services were at the targeted areas, the BBC reported.

Klitschko said cars were burning in the courtyard of one residential building and he urged people to stay in shelters.

Odesa Governor Maksym Marchenko confirmed that a mass missile attack struck an energy facility in the port city, adding that residential areas were also hit but no casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, "about 15" strikes hit Kharkiv city and region, with "critical infrastructure facilities" and a residential building targeted, regional administration chief Oleg Synegubov said.

Other regions targeted by the strikes include Vynnytsia and Rivne in the west, and Dnipro and Poltava in the centre.

Many areas were also left without electricity as a result.

The strikes come amid intense fighting in Artyomovsk (Bakhmut in Ukrainian) city in Donbad, which according to President Volodymyr Zelensky will pave an "open road" for Russian troops to capture key areas if they are able to seize the besieged eastern city.

In the Bryansk attack last week, as per Russia's security agency FSB, the group killed two civilians and injured two others, including a child, and also robbed locals and planted explosives before retreating.

Source: IANS