Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Monday Russia conducted a "group strike' with long-range precision weapons on targets in Ukraine and denied deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. According to the ministry, Ukrainian military facilities and air bases were successfully hit, and the strikes were Russia's response to Kiev's attacks on the Russian energy sector.
In response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's accusations of Russia hitting civilian buildings in Kiev, the defense ministry stated that published photos and video footage from Kiev indicates the deaths can be attributed to the malfunctioning of Ukrainian air defense.
In the view of the ministry, Ukrainian attempts to blame Russia for these deaths is Kiev's attempt to garner further support from Western countries at the NATO summit set to begin on July 7. "The purpose of such provocations is to ensure further financing of the Kiev regime," the ministry said.
