Russia denies strike on Indian pharma warehouse in Kyiv, blames Ukrainian missile

Moscow [Russia], April 18 (ANI): Russia on Thursday dismissed Ukraine’s accusation that its military attacked the warehouse of an Indian pharmaceutical company in Kyiv.

The Russian Embassy in India suggested that it was likely one of Ukraine’s own air defence missiles that hit the facility operated by Kusum Healthcare.

Earlier, the Ukrainian Embassy in India had claimed that a Russian missile struck the Kusum Healthcare warehouse, accusing Moscow of “deliberately" targeting Indian businesses.

“A Russian missile struck the warehouse of Indian pharmaceutical company Kusum in Ukraine. While claiming “special friendship" with India, Moscow deliberately targets Indian business-destroying medicine meant for children and elderly," it said in a post on X.

Responding to the allegations on X, the Russian Embassy stated, “The Russian Armed Forces did not attack or plan to attack on April 12, Kusum Healthcare’s pharmacy warehouse in the eastern part of Kiev. On that day, Russian tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles and missile forces hit an aviation plant of the Ukrainian military industrial complex, the infrastructure of a military airfield and armoured vehicle repair and UAV assembly workshops at a completely different location."

The Russian Embassy blamed Ukraine’s “ineptly operated electronic warfare systems" and suggested that a misfired Ukrainian air defence missile could have caused the damage.

“The most likely explanation of the incident is that one of the Ukrainian air defence missiles fell on Kusum Healthcare’s warehouse, setting it on fire. Similar cases have occurred previously, whereby Ukrainian air defence interceptors failing to hit their targets fell in urban areas due to ineptly operated electronic warfare systems," the embassy said.

It reiterated that Russian forces have “never targeted civilian facilities" and further alleged, “It should also be noted that it has become customary for the Ukrainian military to deploy air defence systems, rocket launchers, artillery pieces and other military equipment in urban areas using civilians as a human shield." (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)

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