Ukraine strikes ballistic missile producer deep inside Russia, Kyiv says

KYIV, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Ukraine hit a Russian plant manufacturing ballistic missiles in a missile strike in the remote Udmurtia region, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday.

Ukraine said its forces attacked the plant manufacturing Russian missiles, including the short-range Iskander and intercontinental Topol-M, in Votkinsk, east of Moscow and about 1,400 km (800 miles) from Ukraine.

It said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that the Ukrainian forces used domestically produced ground-launched Flamingo cruise missiles. The attack caused a fire on the site, the Ukrainian military said.

Alexander Brechalov, the governor of the Udmurtia region in Russia, had earlier said a site there had been attacked overnight with drones.

“There has been damage and injuries as a result,” Brechalov said in a video posted on the Telegram app. He provided no other details.

The airport in Udmurtia’s main city, Izhevsk, and those in cities in nearby regions suspended operations, the civil aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said.

The unofficial Russian Telegram channel SHOT, which often quotes contacts in the security services, said residents in Votkinsk reported hearing at least three explosions and the humming of drones.

Russia uses its ballistic missiles to reinforce its drone attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, knocking out electricity and heating supplies for millions across Ukraine during the cold winter months.

Ukraine is increasingly targeting military and energy infrastructure deep inside Russia. Kyiv says that hitting the weapons producers and the energy system that fuels Russia’s military is the best way to gain leverage over its bigger enemy as the war enters its fifth year next week.

The Ukrainian military said it also hit a gas processing plant in the Russian Samara region. Russian officials in the Samara region issued no report of such an attack.

(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Alex Richardson)