Russia ramping up Ukraine strikes with less precise Soviet-era missiles - general

Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, denies targeting civilians and says it only hits military infrastructure. Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov told a news conference on Thursday that Russia was trying to hit military and critical infrastructure, but that the use of old Soviet missiles that are less accurate was leading to significant loss of civilian life.

Russia is using inaccurate missiles from old Soviet stocks for more than 50% of its strikes in Ukraine and the rate of the strikes has more than doubled in the last two weeks, a brigadier general in Ukraine's armed forces said on Thursday.

Russian missiles have hit an array of targets in Ukraine in recent days, killing one civilian at an apartment block in Kyiv on Saturday and at least 18 more at a shopping centre in the central city of Kremenchuk on Monday. Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, denies targeting civilians and says it only hits military infrastructure.

Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov told a news conference on Thursday that Russia was trying to hit military and critical infrastructure, but that the use of old Soviet missiles that are less accurate was leading to significant loss of civilian life. His analysis diverged from that of some Ukrainian politicians who accuse Russia of deliberately striking civilians to sow panic.

"The enemy's targets remain military facilities, critical infrastructure and industry, transport networks. At the same time, the civilian population is suffering significant losses due to (poorly targeted) strikes," Hromov said. "To carry out rocket strikes, the enemy in more than 50% (of cases) is using missiles from the Soviet reserve, which are not sufficiently precise. As a result, civilian buildings are being hit."

He said 202 missiles had been fired on Ukraine in the second half of June, an increase of 120 from the first half of the month. He estimated that 68 civilian sites had been hit in the second half of this month.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)