Major Russian aircraft manufacturing plant hit in Ukrainian strike, General Staff says
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Ukraine's General Staff said that its troops had struck an aircraft manufacturing plant in Russia's Ulyanovsk Oblast, located about 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) deep inside Russia, on March 16.
Building structures designed to hold aircraft and aircraft parking areas were hit at the Aviastar aircraft manufacturing plant near the city of Ulyanovsk, the General Staff reported on March 18, citing its preliminary information.
The General Staff does not elaborate on what weapons it used to strike the plant. Moscow has not reacted to the General Staff's report yet. The Kyiv Independent couldn't independently verify the General Staff's report.
Ulyanovsk Oblast Governor Alexey Russkikh claimed that five Ukrainian drones were
"intercepted and destroyed" by the Russian air defense over the region on March 16, making no mention of the aircraft manufacturing plant allegedly suffering a hit.
Aviastar, which is part of the United Aircraft Corporation, produces Il-76 MD-90A heavy military transport aircraft and Il-78M-90A refueling aircraft, as well as providing maintenance for An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft, according to the General Staff.
The General Staff added that the company's premises sustained varying degrees of damage, and the extent of the damage is still being assessed.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on March 16, citing an unnamed Ukrainian source, that the Aviastar aircraft manufacturing plant was struck as media reports on it began surfacing on the internet.
"The Ukrainian Armed Forces will continue to strike key strategic facilities involved in supporting the Russian Federation’s military until the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine is completely halted," the General Staff said in its Telegram post.
Outgunned and outmanned on the front, Ukraine has attempted to slowly grind down Russia's war machine from afar, striking military targets and infrastructure supporting the Russian army mainly with its domestically produced drones.
United Aircraft Corporation is a subsidiary of Rostec, a major Russian state aviation cluster. Rostec manages hundreds of Russian enterprises, such as Aviastar, manufacturing over half of Russia's weapons and military equipment and exporting high-tech products for the Russian military-industrial complex, according to Ukraine's military intelligence.
