The Japan Times - Ukraine says hit 'key' Russian military factory in missile strike

Russia has been raining near-daily drone and missile barrages on Ukraine during its full-scale invasion launched in 2022, prompting Ukraine to strike Moscow's infrastructure, including energy facilities, in retribution.

"Our soldiers struck one of the key Russian military factories in Bryansk. This factory produced electronics and components for Russian missiles. The very ones that are striking our cities," Zelensky said in a daily address.

In a video posted on social media by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine purportedly showing the attack, a building is rocked by multiple explosions, with plumes of black smoke rising from the site.

Zelensky called the strike "a completely justified response to the aggressor".

Russia earlier accused Kyiv of a "terrorist" attack in Bryansk that it said killed six civilians and wounded at least 37 people. It did not say what the target was.

The wounded "were taken to the Bryansk Regional Hospital, where they are receiving the necessary medical care," regional governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said on Telegram.

Ukraine has not commented on the allegation of civilian casualties.

Bryansk, a city of around 400,000 residents, is about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Ukraine border.

Ukraine used British Storm Shadow cruise missiles in the attack, the Ukrainian military said.

"Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully struck the Bryansk microelectronics plant Kremniy El with Storm Shadow air-launched missiles," the General Staff said in a social media post.

"The plant specialises in discrete semiconductor technology and integrated microchips, which are the 'brains' and 'nerve system' of modern weapons, including Iskander missiles," the statement said.

The army said it had inflicted "significant damage to production facilities" at the factory.

In December, Ukraine said it used the Storm Shadows to attack a Russian oil refinery in the Rostov region, a facility it said was directly involved in supplying Moscow's armed forces.

- Talks next week? -

Ukraine said earlier on Tuesday that Russian strikes killed four people and wounded at least 20 in the embattled Ukrainian town of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region as the Kremlin's forces grind towards the hub.

Moscow claims the Donbas region -- a largely industrial area spanning Ukraine's eastern Lugansk and Donetsk regions -- is part of Russia despite not having full control over it.

The fate of Donbas, the epicentre of the fighting, remains a key sticking point in the deadlocked talks between Moscow and Kyiv brokered by the United States.

Russia has threatened to take the region by force if Kyiv does not cede at the negotiating table but Ukraine has rejected the demand, arguing that giving up land would only embolden the Kremlin.

Despite the apparent impasse, the United States has proposed another round of Russia-Ukraine talks next week, Zelensky said Tuesday.

Zelensky said, in an audio message sent to reporters including AFP, that talks -- initially planned for last week in the United Arab Emirates -- had been postponed until next week by the United States.

"This was proposed by the American side, but we'll see what happens in the Middle East, to be honest," Zelensky told journalists, adding that the meeting "could be in Switzerland or Turkey".

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday that "there was supposed to be a trilateral this week".

"I think the trilateral will be shifted till sometime next week, and... we're going to remain positive on that," Witkoff added.

T.Kobayashi--JT