Russia destroys military plant used to refurbish Tochka-U ballistic missiles

The facility had been used to refurbish warheads for Tochka-U ballistic missiles.

Defense Ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov said on Monday that the Russian military destroyed a military plant used to repair the warheads of Tochka-U ballistic missiles. The facility was located in the southeast Ukrainian city of Dnepr, formerly known as Dnepropetrovsk.

The Ukrainian forces have been heavily using Soviet-made Tochka-U tactical ballistic missiles in the conflict with Russia. The system is the longest-reach weapon at Kiev's disposal, with a maximum range of 120 km. Cluster bombs can be fitted with various warheads, including cluster bombs.

According to Moscow, this type of missile has been involved in multiple mass-casualty incidents during the conflict. On March 14, a Tochka-U was launched in Donetsk, the capital of the Breakaway Donetsk People's Republic DPR The missile, carrying a cluster munition warhead, was intercepted by DPR forces, but some of its explosive parts hit the city, killing 20 and injuring 36 civilians.

Another incident involving the Tochka-U occurred in the Kiev-controlled city of Kramatorsk on April 8. A missile that was said to have been loaded with a cluster munitions warhead hit a local railway station that was used to evacuate civilians from the war zone. Hundreds of civilians were killed and wounded in the attack.

Ukraine was quick to blame Moscow for the strike, but the latter denied any involvement, branding the attack an act of barbarism by Kiev's forces. The Russian military pointed out that this type of missile has been retired from active use and branded the accusations a provocation that has absolutely no relation to reality, adding that the Tochka-U has only been used by the Ukrainian side during the current conflict.

Russia attacked its neighbor in late February, after Ukraine didn't implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Moscow's eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French Minsk Protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.

The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists that the Russian offensive was unprovoked and has denied that it was planning to retake the two republics by force.