Ukraine strikes military plant, oil refinery in Russia

Kyiv, Oct 23 (IANS) Ukrainian forces conducted strikes on a military plant and an oil refinery in Russia, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement.

The strikes hit the Saransk Mechanical Plant in the capital of Mordovia, which reportedly produces anti-personnel engineering ammunition, mine-laying kits, ammunition detonators and initiation nodes, causing explosions, according to the statement released on Wednesday.

The Saransk Mechanical Plant is part of the state-owned Rostec Corporation and manufactures equipment and components for various industries, with a primary focus on mechanical engineering and the defence sector, Xinhua news agency reported.

In 2020, the plant was temporarily shut down for 90 days due to safety violations related to explosive production, according to the Russian business daily Kommersant.

Russian air defences intercepted 44 Ukrainian drones overnight and into the morning of Wednesday, including eight over Dagestan, according to Russia's Defence Ministry.

No drones were reportedly shot down over Mordovia.

Artyom Zdunov, the head of the Mordovia, confirmed that the region had come under a large-scale drone attack, which caused damage to a local enterprise.

A separate attack targeted the Makhachkala oil refinery in Dagestan, where a processing unit was struck, the statement said, adding that the refinery supplies fuel to Russian military vessels of the Caspian Fleet.

Makhachkala Mayor Dzhambulat Salavov initially posted on his Telegram channel that the drone attack had damaged several commercial facilities and two vehicles in the city. However, he deleted the post within 12 minutes.

A photo included in the post showed not only damaged buildings but also military vehicles.

It noted that the strikes were intended to reduce Russia's military-economic potential.

Ukrainian forces targeted the Bryansk Chemical Plant using UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles on Tuesday.

The operation was conducted jointly by Ukraine's Air Force in coordination with the Navy, Land Forces, and other military units.

Ukraine has previously used Storm Shadows to strike targets in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk regions, as well as in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The strikes on Russian facilities supporting the war effort in Ukraine come amid ongoing talks between Kyiv and Washington over the potential delivery of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope that enhancing Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities could increase pressure on Russia to seek a diplomatic resolution of the full-scale war.

--IANS

int/khz