Russia said on Wednesday it had destroyed all of its targets in massive strikes the day before in Ukraine, saying it had targeted Ukrainian military command and energy infrastructure.
“The objective was achieved, the missiles all precisely hit the identified targets, all these sites were destroyed”, indicated the Russian Ministry of Defense, claiming to have targeted “the military command system of Ukraine and the related energy installations”.
He also claimed that he had not carried out any strikes on Kyiv the day before, and that the destruction observed in the Ukrainian capital was caused by the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense.
“All the destruction in the residential areas of the Ukrainian capital (…) is the direct result of the fall and self-destruction of anti-aircraft missiles launched by Ukrainian forces,” the Russian ministry said in a statement.
Several buildings in kyiv were hit as a result of the shelling.
Moscow systematically denies having hit civilian sites in Ukraine, often blaming Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense systems or accusing kyiv of staging destruction.
Tuesday’s massive strikes came after another humiliating Russian retreat. Russia, under pressure from a Ukrainian counter-offensive, abandoned the north of the Kherson region (south) on November 11, although it claims annexation.
The bombings deprived some 10 million Ukrainians of electricity on Tuesday, according to Kyiv.
Russia is accused of deliberately targeting its neighbor’s civilian infrastructure as winter approaches in order to weigh on the Ukrainians’ determination to resist its military offensive.