Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
NurPhoto via Getty ImagesUkraine struck a Russian chemical plant with Storm Shadow missiles, its military said Tuesday, referring to the British-made long-range weapon.
Calling the strike a “successful strike” that penetrated Russia’s air defense system, the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said it was still assessing the outcome of the “large-scale” strike.
The Kremlin has warned the West not to give Ukraine weapons capable of long-range attacks, but Kiev says it is imperative to attack Russian facilities that play a key role in Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
“The Bryansk Chemical Plant is a key facility of the military-industrial complex of the aggressor state,” the Ukrainian military said at Post X on Tuesday.
It added that the plant “produces gunpowder, explosives and rocket fuel components used in ammunition and rockets used by the enemy to shell the territory of Ukraine.”
The authorities in Moscow have not yet commented on the strike.
The attack came on the same day that UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and other European leaders vowed to “increase pressure on Russia’s economy and its defense industry” while Russian leader Vladimir Putin “is not ready to make peace”.
A joint statement signed by the leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Denmark, Finland, the EU and Norway added that “Ukraine must be in the strongest position – before, during and after any ceasefire”.
Russia carried out a night air attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Wednesday morning, according to the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Witnesses heard explosions that sounded like anti-aircraft units in action, Reuters reported.
The latest attacks came after a meeting at the White House last week between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which the American leader indicated that he was not ready to deliver the sought-after Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kiev.
Trump initially agreed with Putin to hold talks in Budapest about the war in Ukraine, possibly in the coming weeks. But that plan was shelved on Tuesday, with Trump said he didn’t want a ‘wasted meeting’.
In remarks at the White House, the US president indicated that a key obstacle remains Moscow’s refusal to stop fighting on the current front line.
Just last month, Trump appeared to take a major shift in his stance on ending the war, saying that Kiev could “win all of Ukraine in its original form” – referring to Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.
Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the southern Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.
