'A deliberate strike' — Russian attack hits US electronics plant in western Ukraine
Editor's note: This item was updated with additional comments about the attack from President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russia attacked a factory owned by U.S. company Flex Ltd. in western Ukraine overnight on Aug. 21, less than a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin met U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska to discuss ending the war.
Flex Ltd. is an American publicly traded multinational company and one of the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturers.
It has been operating in Ukraine since 2000 and in 2012, opened the 55,000-square-meter Mukachevo plant in Zakarpattia Oblast that was targeted in Russia's attack. The plant employs over 2,600 people, and makes up 1% of Flex's business.
"This was an ordinary civilian facility with American investment. They produced everyday household items, such as coffee machines," President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the attack.
In his evening address, Zelensky accused Russia of purposefully striking the U.S. facility, amid ongoing peace talks.
"The Russians knew exactly where they lobbed the missiles. We believe this was a deliberate strike specifically on American-owned property here in Ukraine, on American investments. A very telling strike," Zelensky added.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also said the facility "has nothing to do with defense or the military." An employee at Flex told the Kyiv Independent that the plant does not produce any military equipment.
Russia launched 574 drones and decoys, and 40 missiles across Ukraine overnight, mostly targeting western regions far from the front lines. The attack on the area injured at least 23 people, local authorities said, and comes after both the Putin-Trump Alaska summit on Aug. 15 and Zelensky's meeting in Washington with Trump on Aug. 18.
The timing "is sending a message that American businesses are a target," Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, told the Kyiv Independent from the site of the attack in Mukachevo.
"(Russia is) trying to humiliate American business that has been successfully working in Ukraine for decades."
Sybiha said that one missile hit the Flex plant, while Zelensky said the site was targeted with "several" cruise missiles.
Photos and videos shared on social media show significant damage to the plant's premises. Hunder confirmed that the plant had sustained severe damage.
Several employees and contractors remain in the hospital, although none were fatally injured, Flex said in a press release. The company has switched to its backup plan to keep operations going and is assessing the damage to the plant.
Several employees and contractors remain in the hospital, although none were fatally injured, Flex said in a press release. The company has switched to its backup plan to keep operations going and is assessing the damage to the plant.
An employee at the plant told the Kyiv Independent that about 800 workers normally work on the night shift. On Aug. 21, most evacuated to on-site concrete shelters after the air raid alert went off.
According to the plant employee, the company had strict protocols in place during air raid alerts.
The Kyiv Independent reached out to the company for a comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
This marks the first Russian strike on Mukachevo since the start of the full-scale invasion. The city lies some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the Hungarian border.
This is not the first Russian strike on U.S.-linked facilities in Ukraine. In June, Russia targeted a building used by the U.S. aerospace and defense giant Boeing in an attack on Kyiv.
