Russia says it destroyed rocket manufacturing plant in Kiev

Russia reportedly destroyed the Artyom plant, which was used to produce ammunition for multiple launch rocket systems.

Russia's Ministry of Defense reported on Monday that it successfully carried out a missile strike on a Russian rocket manufacturing plant in Kiev, which was used to make ammunition for multiple launch rocket systems.

The ministry reports that four high precision missiles were fired on Sunday, all of which reached the Artyom rocket-manufacturing plant, located in the Shevchenkovskiy district of Kiev, without any damage to civilian infrastructure in the city.

The authorities in Kiev tried to intercept Russian high-precision missiles using anti-aircraft weapons stationed around the city, including S-300 and Buk M 1 anti-aircraft missile systems, which reportedly launched 10 rockets during the strike.

The ministry said that two S-300 rockets, one of which fell on a residential building, were shot down by Ukrainian Buks due to the lack of communication between the anti-aircraft defense systems in the city.

According to Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, who called the attack symbolic ahead of this week's NATO summit in Madrid, Western media outlets including NPR and AP reported on Sunday that Russian missiles fell on at least two apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital.

Klitschko wrote on Sunday that a person died and four people were hospitalized as a result of the incident, while 24 other residents were evacuated from the building.

A Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said Russian aircraft had launched up to six missiles at Kiev on Sunday and two of them were intercepted mid-air.

In late February, Russia attacked the neighboring state after Ukraine failed to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French 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 claims that it was planning to retake the two republics by force.