Zelensky: Ukrainian aeronautical company hit in Russian missile attack

(Patria) - A Russian missile attack on Saturday hit a facility of the Ukrainian aeronautical group Motor Sich, one of several companies requisitioned by the government after Moscow's invasion, said President Volodymyr Zelensky, AFP reports.

"Today there was another Russian missile attack on our country. Kinzhals, Kalibers... They hit Motor Sich" near Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine, about 300 kilometers southwest of Kyiv, Zelensky said in his evening address.

Motor Sich, which produces engines for airplanes and helicopters and other components, was among the "strategic" companies that the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense took over last November.

Zelensky said the attack included Russian Kinzhal hypersonic weapons, designed to evade air defense systems, although he added that "some of the missiles were shot down".

The Khmelnytskyi region, hundreds of kilometers from the front lines of fighting in eastern Ukraine, has regularly been targeted by Russian strikes. The region is home to a large Ukrainian air base.

The headquarters of Motor Sich is located in the Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine, which is partially controlled by Russia. Its governor said earlier on Saturday that a Russian strike caused a fire at a location outside the city. It was not clear whether the Russian strikes hit the Motor Sich headquarters.