Ukraine hits defence plant in Russia’s Volgograd region, Zelensky says

KYIV - Ukrainian-made Flamingo missiles hit a plant producing artillery systems and components for missile launch systems in Russia’s Volgograd region overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 27.

The strikes caused a fire at the premises of the Titan-Barrikady plant, he said on the Telegram app.

Ukraine’s SBU security service also said its drones attacked the “Vtorovo” oil pumping station in Russia’s Vladimir region for the second time this month.

The station is a key logistics hub used to ship petroleum products to Russian domestic consumers and also for export, the SBU said on Telegram.

“The reach of Ukraine’s long-range sanctions continues to expand,” Zelensky said, referring to Kyiv’s strikes deep inside Russian territory.

“It is precisely our pressure, day after day, that lays the groundwork for a dignified peace in the end.”

Ukraine has intensified mid- and long-range drone attacks on the Russian oil facilities and weapon production in recent months in response to Russia’s devastating strikes on the capital Kyiv and other cities.

With the war now in its fifth year, fighting rages along more than 1,200km of the front line, and Russia launches hundreds of drones in nearly nightly attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

Ukraine’s energy company, Naftogaz, said its production facilities in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions in the north-east had been damaged following Russian missile and drone attacks over the past two days.

Zelensky said Russia launched nearly 1,400 drones and 19 missiles during last week’s attacks on 15 Ukrainian regions, adding that air defence supplies and drone cooperation with allies remained key priorities for Kyiv. REUTERS