Ukraine says it struck Russia’s chemical plant with Storm Shadow missiles

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(Reuters) -Ukraine’s military said late on Tuesday that it struck a chemical plant in southern Russia’s Bryansk region that it described as vital to Moscow’s war effort, in an attack that included Franco-British Storm Shadow air-launched missiles.

“A massive combined missile-and-air strike was carried out, including with air-launched Storm Shadow missiles that penetrated Russia’s air defence system,” the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

“The results of the strike are being assessed,” it said.

It described the plant as a “key facility” producing gunpowder, explosives and rocket fuel.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

The Russian Defence Ministry said in a Telegram post on Tuesday evening that within four hours in the afternoon its air defence units destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk region.

The ministry rarely reports any damages inflicted by Ukraine in the war that Russia started with its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk region, said in a Telegram post that Ukraine was attacking the region with drones and missiles on Tuesday afternoon. He added that no one was injured in the attack and no damage was reported.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski in Winnipeg and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Berkrot)