Russia-Ukraine war on April 16: Ukraine fired Tochka-U missiles to attack Russian troops, fierce fighting around the steel “fortress” of Mariupol

Ukraine fires Tochka-U missiles at Russian troops in Kherson

According to News NPR, after intercepting a Tochka-U ballistic missile fired by Ukraine at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant in Kherson – a city under the control of Russian forces, Moscow warned Ukraine was planning a “recovery” attack civilians”.

“A unit of Ukraine’s 19th Independent Missile Brigade launched two Tochka-U ballistic missiles at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station at 7 am on April 15. If the dam here is destroyed, the Dnieper River will be destroyed. can overflow the banks out of control and cause flooding in many areas in Kherson, southern Ukraine,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on April 16, noting that Russian air defenses had hit intercept both missiles.

General Konashenkov said that fragments of the Ukrainian Tochka-U missile fell on the village of Novaya Kakhovka, injuring two people, damaging a kindergarten and a house.

The Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam is responsible for controlling the flow of the Dnieper River, providing electricity to the surrounding area, as well as regulating water for agricultural areas in southern Ukraine and northern Crimea.

Meanwhile, General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Operations Center, accused the Ukrainian authorities of planning aggression by launching missiles at a populated area, then blaming Russia. . Mizintsev said that Russia has evidence of this activity.

“A battalion of the 19th Ukrainian Brigade will launch Tochka-U missiles at the evacuation point at the train station in the village of Lozovaya in the Kharkov region. The shells will be launched from the Staromikhaylovka area in the eastern Donetsk province to there is a pretext to say that this was a missile fired in an area controlled by the Russian military and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic forces,” Mizintsev said.

It is known that the Tochka-U ballistic missile was also the same type of missile that was launched at the Kramatorsk train station in the Donetsk region on April 8, killing 39 civilians waiting to be evacuated. Kiev accused Moscow of carrying out the attack, but the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine’s 19th Brigade launched the missiles and “blamed” Russia.

As a tactical ballistic missile complex designed for deployment in the army formation, Tochka-U can be used in precision strikes against command posts, depots, airfields and training sites. enemy soldiers. The missile is controlled by an inertial guidance system, while the Tochka-P version has a passive detector to destroy enemy radar stations.

The Tochka-U version has a maximum range of 120 km. The bullet is 6.4 m long, weighs 2 tons and reaches a maximum speed of 6,500 km / h, more than 5 times the speed of sound. The Tochka-U is usually armed with a fragmentation warhead, but can also use nuclear, biological and chemical warheads.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that it has removed Tochka-U missiles from the army service since the end of 2019 and replaced them with the Iskander complex. The ministry added that the Ukrainian military is operating 38-90 Tochka-U launchers with hundreds of ammunition in reserve.

Fierce fighting around the steel “fortress” of Mariupol

Ukraine said it was trying to break the siege of Mariupol by Russian forces as fighting raged around the Illich steel plant and the city’s port, according to the Algemeiner newspaper.

“The situation in Mariupol is very difficult and severe. The fighting is happening right now. The Russian military is constantly sending more units to attack and capture the city,” Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said on April 15.

“But so far, the Russians have not completely controlled the city,” Motuzyanyk added.

For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that they had captured the Illich iron and steel plant. The report could not be verified. Ukraine’s defense forces are now believed to be mainly holding Azovstal, another giant steel mill.

Both factories are owned by Metinvest – the empire of Ukraine’s richest businessman and the mainstay of the industrial zone of eastern Ukraine. Metinvest told Reuters on Friday that it would never let its businesses operate under Russian occupation.

“We believe in Ukraine’s victory and plan to resume production after the end of the war,” Metinvest told Reuters, adding that its factories had been damaged.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on the same day that 2,864 people were evacuated from conflict areas on Friday, including 363 from Mariupol using their own means of transport.

Mariupol is believed to be Russia’s main target in the Donbass and Moscow says it hopes to capture the city soon. If Russia succeeds, Mariupol will become the only major city occupied by Russia to date.

Kiev “buckled” under increased attacks

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces would intensify attacks on Kiev after the flagship Moskva – the pride of Russia’s fleet – sank in the Black Sea. Russia said more than 500 sailors on the flagship Moscow were evacuated.

“The number and scale of missile strikes on targets in Kiev will increase in response to any terrorist attack or act of sabotage on Russian territory carried out by the Kiev authorities,” he said. Russian Defense Ministry announced.

Moscow earlier said that Russian villages in the Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine had been affected by Ukrainian shelling. Attacks in the area, believed to be the main “outpost” for Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, cannot be independently confirmed at this time, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Kiev and its Western allies say that Russia’s claims are bogus justifications for the war in Ukraine, which has displaced a quarter of 44 million Ukrainians from their homes. avoid conflict.

Kirill Kyrylo, 38, a worker at an auto repair shop in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, said he saw three explosions in an industrial building in the city, which sparked a massive fire afterward. was extinguished by the fire brigade.

“The building caught on fire and I had to hide behind my car,” Kyrylo said, pointing out broken glass from the repair shop and metal shards flying from the burning building.

Ukrainian and Western media have also described large explosions in Kiev on April 15. These are the most powerful explosions recorded in the region after the withdrawal of Russian forces from northern Ukraine. Ukrainian media reported that part of Kiev lost power after the explosions.