Ukraine strikes Russian electronics plant that builds missile components

The general staff said that it used Storm Shadow missiles, which are produced jointly by Britain and France, to hit a plant that makes microchips and high-end electronics. 

[March 12] at 6:23 a.m. EDT

People clear debris at the site of a recent Ukrainian missile strike in Bryansk, western Russia, on Wednesday. (Andrey Borodulin/AFP/Getty Images)  

By David L. Stern

, 

Serhii Korolchuk

 and 

Natalia Abbakumova, The Washington Post ; article contains additional illustrations. 

KYIV — A Ukrainian missile strike inflicted heavy damage on a key plant supplying electronic components for the Russian war machine, Kyiv officials said.  

Russian officials on Wednesday sharply condemned the strike, which was carried out using British-produced medium-range missiles, saying that it was intended to derail peace talks, though negotiations seem to have hit a wall for other reasons. "As part of a systematic effort to reduce the military-economic potential of the Russian aggressor,” Ukraine targeted the Kremniy El microelectronics factory in Russia’s Bryansk region, Ukraine’s military general staff said in a social media post. 

The general staff said that it used Storm Shadow missiles, which are produced jointly by Britain and France, and are called SCALP by the French. The missile has a range of up to 150 miles, allowing Ukrainian forces to strike locations inside Russia.

“The target was hit and significant damage to production facilities was recorded,” the general staff said, though it added that “the extent of the damage is being clarified.” The Washington Post could not independently verify details. 

Shortly after the operation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an online briefing with journalists on Tuesday, said that Ukraine’s commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, told him that the mission was “successfully carried out” and “the Bryansk plant was hit.”

Kremniy El produces microchips and other high-end electronics for numerous Russian missile systems. These include the Iskander-M ballistic missile, which Russia has used extensively, along with drones and cruise missiles, to target Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure this winter.  

Russia regularly launches dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones per night, wreaking extensive damage on apartment buildings, schools and hospitals. The attacks have killed and wounded hundreds of civilians and often left Ukraine’s major cities without electricity and heat. 

Videos posted on social media Tuesday showed missiles striking locations which were said to be in Bryansk, in western Russia, with numerous fires burning as a result and smoke hanging over the city. 

The plant was a “critically important link in the chain of production of Russian ‘high precision’ weapons,” Ukraine’s general staff wrote, producing components that “serve as the ‘brains’ and ‘nervous system’ of modern weapons.” 

Russian officials confirmed a missile attack on Bryansk. They did not say that the factory was targeted but were vociferous in their condemnation of the strike. 

Seven Storm Shadow missiles struck the city, killing six people and injuring 42, Bryansk regional head Alexander Bogomaz said Wednesday on Telegram. Bogomaz called the assault an “inhumane act.” 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the strike would not have been possible “without the involvement of British specialists.” 

“We are aware of this, we know it well, and we naturally take it into account,” Peskov said during his daily briefing. 

The United States and NATO allies have supplied weapons to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and have also provided Ukraine with intelligence and geographic coordinates to hit Russian targets. The Washington Post has reported that Russia is now providing targeting information to Iran, helping it to carry out retaliatory strikes on U.S. targets in the Middle East. The Kremlin has denied helping Iran. 

“The goal of London and other Western capitals is obvious,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday, “through a large-scale provocation with civilian casualties, to disrupt the peace process and achieve an escalation of hostilities.”

The attack occurred as Ukrainian forces claimed other battlefield gains against Russia. 

On Saturday, military intelligence officials said that their special forces had stopped a Russian advance on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. Earlier, Zelensky said that Kyiv had reclaimed nearly 200 square miles of occupied Ukrainian territory.

In addition, Kyiv’s troops have driven Kremlin forces from “almost the entire territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region, where the enemy was advancing,” Maj. Gen. Oleksandr Komarenko, chief of the Ukrainian military’s Main Operational Directorate, said in an interview with Ukrainian outlet RBC, published on Tuesday.

For their part, Russian officials have claimed their own military advances.

Ukraine now controls “15 to 17 percent” of the eastern Donetsk region, down from 25 percent six months ago, Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed head of the occupied region, said in a meeting Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pushilin’s claim could not be verified, and is contradicted by Kyiv and some Western experts.

Meanwhile, trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. to resolve the war with Russia — which had previously taken place in Dubai — have been on hold while Washington focuses on the war with Iran. Talks had been scheduled to resume this week. 

“We expect the meeting to take place next week,” Zelensky said. “This was suggested by the American side, but honestly, we’ll see what happens in the Middle East.”

The meeting could take place “in Switzerland or Turkey,” Zelensky said, but said he doubted that it would happen “in the Emirates.”

Abbakumova reported from Riga, Latvia.  

What readers are saying  

The comments largely support Ukraine's use of British-produced Storm Shadow missiles to target the Kremniy El microelectronics factory in Russia, viewing it as a justified military action against an aggressor. Many commenters express approval of Ukraine's strategy to target... Show more 

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