Kyiv military factory targeted in strikes

Above, members of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces during military drills in Kyiv region on April 15, 2022. (Reuters)

• Strike on the Ukrainian capital is among the first since invading Russian forces began withdrawing from regions around Kyiv last month

KYIV: A military hardware factory in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was hit by strikes early Saturday, an AFP journalist said, a day after Russian forces bombed a missile unit outside the city.
Smoke rose from the area and there was a heavy police and military presence after Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko announced on social media there had been explosions in the capital’s Darnyrsky district.
Russia’s defense ministry said Moscow’s forces had used “high-precision long-range” weapons to hit facilities at an armaments plant in Kyiv.
The strike on the Ukrainian capital is among the first since invading Russian forces began withdrawing from regions around Kyiv last month, instead turning their focus on gaining control of the eastern Donbas region.
Russian strikes on Friday however hit the Vizar plant, near the capital’s international airport, seriously damaging the facility that produces missiles in the overnight strikes.
Russia said it had used sea-based long-range missiles to hit the factory, which Ukraine’s state weapons manufacturer says produced Neptune cruise missiles.
Klitschko said authorities were still determining whether anyone had been killed or injured in the attack.
Residential areas of Kyiv were struck repeatedly at the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from late February. Moscow has denied intentionally striking civilian infrastructure.