Russia is not bothered by Sweden and Finland joining NATO, Putin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday denied that Russia was behind a strike against a shopping mall in Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, which left at least 18 dead and dozens missing and injured.
“The Russian army is not attacking any civilian place. We do not need this. We have every ability to detect specific places; and thanks to our long-range high-precision weapons, we are achieving our goals,” he said. Putin told a news conference after a meeting between the “five Caspian leaders” – Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan – in Ashgabat.
More background: On its Telegram channel, the Russian Ministry of Defense previously said that Russian “Aerospace Forces launched an attack with high-precision aircraft-based weapons on hangars with weapons and ammunition received from the United States and European countries”, and hit a “road machinery” facility. “
“As a result of a high-precision attack, Western weapons and ammunition were concentrated in the storage area for further transport to the Ukrainian group of troops in the Donbas,” the ministry said.
The ministry accused the “detonation of stored ammunition for Western weapons” of causing a fire in what it described as a “non-functioning” nearby shopping center.
Video from Kremenchuk shows that a shopping center in the heart of the city was destroyed by one of the two missiles that were fired. Despite an air strike siren, dozens of people were still inside the mall when the missile hit.
It is unclear which “road machine” facility the Russian Ministry of Defense is referring to.
