Ukrainian military: ‘Russia more than doubled attacks using Soviet missiles’

Russia is using non-precision missiles from its old Soviet stockpile for more than 50 percent of its attacks in Ukraine, and the rate of hits has more than doubled in the past two weeks, a brigadier general in Ukraine’s armed forces said on Thursday.

Russian missiles have struck a series of targets in Ukraine in recent days, killing a civilian in an apartment building in Kyiv on Saturday and at least 18 other people in a shopping center in the city of Kremenchuk on Monday.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 24, denies targeting civilians and says it is only hitting military infrastructure.

Brigadier General Alexei Khromov said at a press conference that Russia was trying to hit military and other critical infrastructure but was using old, Soviet missiles that are less accurate and lead to significant civilian casualties. Khromov’s analysis differs from that of some Ukrainian politicians who accuse Russia of deliberately targeting civilians to sow panic.

“The enemy’s targets remain military installations, critical infrastructure and industry, transport networks. At the same time, the civilian population is suffering significant losses due to hits” that miss the target, Khromov said.

“In its missile attacks, the enemy, in more than 50% of cases, uses missiles from the Soviet stocks, which are not accurate. As a result, civilian buildings are hit,” he explained.

According to Khromov, 202 missiles were fired at Ukraine in the second 15 days of June, up from 120 in the first fortnight. According to his estimate, 68 civilian targets were hit during the second half of the month.

Source: RES-MPE