Russia\u2019s defence ministry said it struck a military target on edge of Kyiv overnight with cruise missiles
\n Moscow
\nRussia\u2019s defence ministry said on Friday it had struck a military target on the edge of Kyiv overnight with cruise missiles and promised more strikes against the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian targets.
\nThe ministry said its forces had also taken full control of the Ilyich Steel Plant in the besieged port city of Mariupol, which has been encircled by Russian troops for weeks.
\nPowerful explosions were heard in Kyiv on Friday which appeared to be among the most significant there since Russian troops pulled back from the area earlier this month in preparation for battles in the south and east.
\nThe explosions were reported to have been heard after the Russian defence ministry announced that the Moskva, the flagship of Russia\u2019s Black Sea Fleet, had sunk while being towed after being badly damaged.
\nUkraine claimed the Moskva\u2019s damage was the result of one of its missile strikes. Russia\u2019s defence ministry spoke only of a fire breaking out and of exploding ammunition.
\nThe defence ministry said in its statement that its overnight missile strikes on Kyiv had struck the \u2018Vizar\u2019 factory on the edge of the Ukrainian capital which it said made and repaired missiles, including anti-ship missiles.
\nIt pledged more strikes on Kyiv. \u201cThe number and scale of missile strikes on targets in Kyiv will increase in response to any terrorist attacks or acts of sabotage on Russian territory committed by the Kyiv nationalist regime,\u201d the ministry said in a statement.
\nIt said its forces had shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter which it said had attacked the village of Klimovo in Bryansk region on April 14 and had also shot down a Ukrainian Sukhoi-27 jet.
\nA group of up to 30 Polish mercenaries had also been destroyed, it said.
\nRussia launched what it calls its \u201cspecial military operation\u201d on February 24. Ukraine has put up fierce resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russia\u2019s defence ministry said it struck a military target on edge of Kyiv overnight with cruise missiles Moscow Russia\u2019s defence ministry said on Friday it had struck a military target on the edge of Kyiv overnight with cruise missiles and promised more strikes against the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian targets. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-255284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n