Russia conducts retaliatory strike in wake of Ukraine’s ATACMS attack – MOD

Moscow’s forces have successfully hit a number of Kiev’s critically important facilities, the defense ministry has reported

A massive overnight strike on critically important Ukrainian facilities was conducted in response to Kiev’s recent ATACMS attack on a military airfield near the city of Taganrog, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday.

The ministry stated that all the goals of the retaliatory strike had been achieved and that all targeted facilities have been hit.

“In response to the use of American long-range weapons, Russia’s Armed Forces launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range air and sea-based weapons and UAVs on critical fuel and energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine that support the operation of the military industrial complex,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement published on its official Telegram channel.

On Wednesday, the ministry had reported that Ukraine’s forces had launched six US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles towards an airfield in Rostov Region. Two were shot down using a Pantsir air defense system, while the other four were deflected using electronic warfare systems, Moscow said, adding that fallen debris resulted in some injuries and minor damage to two buildings and several vehicles.

Earlier, Kiev’s Energy Minister German Galuschenko reported that Ukraine’s energy infrastructure had been targeted in a major attack, resulting in power outages in the capital as well as several other cities.

Explosions have been reported in Odessa Region, Ivano-Frankovsk Region, and other parts of the country. Ukrainian media have claimed that some 50% of residents are currently without electricity in Ternopol Region.

READ MORE: Large-scale strikes reported across Ukraine

Ukraine’s state-run energy company, Ukrenergo, has warned that 50% of the population could be left without power on Friday due to the attack.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also confirmed that the overnight strike was conducted “in part” as a response to the ATACMS attack on Taganrog.

The day before, he had warned that Russia would retaliate in a way that would be “deemed appropriate” to the attack on the airfield.