President Zelenskyy says facility targeted 'regular civilian business, supported by American investment,' argues strike by Russia is 'very telling'
Ukraine said on Thursday that at least 15 people were injured due to an overnight Russian airstrike on a US-owned enterprise in the country’s Zakarpattia region.
A statement by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service on Telegram said the strike in the country’s westernmost region targeted one of the industrial facilities in the city of Mukachevo, noting that a large-scale fire broke out in the facility, covering an area of about 7,000 square meters (75,347 square feet).
“All emergency services are working at the scene. The liquidation of the consequences of the Russian shelling is ongoing,” it added.
Ukraine’s Air Force claimed in a statement on Telegram that its air defenses shot down 546 out of 574 drones, as well as 31 out of 40 various types of missiles, launched by Russia on the war-torn country overnight.
“Last night, the Russian army set one of its insane anti-records. They targeted civilian infrastructure facilities, residential buildings, and our people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said through the US social media company X.
Zelenskyy specified that an American-owned enterprise in the westernmost region was targeted during the attack, when 15 people were reported injured, claiming several cruise missiles were launched against the enterprise.
“It was a regular civilian business, supported by American investment, producing everyday items like coffee machines. And yet, it was also a target for the Russians. This is very telling,” he went on to express.
He argued that the attack “requires a response,” adding there is “still no signal from Moscow that they truly intend to engage in substantive negotiations and end this war.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a later statement that it carried out a group strike overnight against “enterprises of the Ukrainian defense industry and power facilities that supported their operation,” as well as military airfields, positions of missile systems, ammunition, and materiel depots of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The strike comes amid intense diplomatic efforts by US President Donald Trump to mediate a settlement for the nearly 3 1/2-year long Russia-Ukraine war.
These efforts included a key summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, and the subsequent meeting in the Oval Office on Monday between Trump, Zelenskyy, and European leaders.
