Moscow to increase missile strikes on Kyiv targets

MOSCOW - Russia will expand the scale of its missile strikes on Kyiv in response to any Ukrainian forces' attacks or sabotage on Russian territory, the country's defense ministry said Friday.

"Russian troops and forces of the Donetsk People's Republic have taken control of the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in the city of Mariupol as a result of a successful offensive," Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told a daily briefing.

The Russian forces used high-precision sea-based Kalibr missiles to strike a military facility on the outskirts of Kyiv, he added.

According to the ministry, Russian forces have destroyed 132 aircraft, 105 helicopters, 245 anti-aircraft missile systems, 456 unmanned aerial vehicles, 2,213 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 249 multiple rocket launchers, 966 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,110 units of special military vehicles of the Ukrainian forces.