Video: Russian Iskander Missile Strike Takes Out Ukraine Drone Facility

Russia's Ministry of Defense on Monday said its military had destroyed a Ukrainian drone production facility during a strike using Iskander missiles.

The facility was reportedly in Zaporizhzhia, the same region where Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of attacking a nuclear power station after Kyiv first blamed Moscow for a drone strike on the nuke plant.

The nuclear power station has been under the control of Russian forces since the first days of the military invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022. On Sunday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported drones had attacked the Zaporizhzhia plant, increasing the risk of a potentially catastrophic nuclear accident.

"On April 8 this year, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as a result of a strike by the Iskander operational-tactical missile system, completely destroyed a warehouse of heavy unmanned aerial vehicles and a workshop for their production in the city of Zaporizhzhia," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

A video of the Iskander strike shared by the ministry was later published by Kremlin-controlled media outlets like Sputnik.

Russian-state news outlet TASS said that the video shows the Iskander "blow hit exactly the center of the building," and that footage "shows that nearby buildings remained virtually undamaged, while the workshop itself was almost completely destroyed."

According to Russia's Defense Ministry, Monday's Iskander strike was carried out as a response to recent damage inflicted by Kyiv's regime to Russian oil and gas facilities.

Since the start of Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, fuel depots and oil refineries across Russia have been repeatedly struck by drones in attacks blamed on Kyiv, which often does not claim responsibility.

Such drone assaults have increased in recent months, which has reportedly spurred oil companies in the country to reduce gasoline production. Rosstat, Russia's Federal State Statistics Service, said that in the week ending March 24, the nation's production of gasoline fell by approximately 7.4 percent to 754,600 tons compared to the week prior, when production was at 815,300 tons, local media reported.

The Russian Defense Ministry's statement added that as a result of Ukraine targeting sites associated with the Russian oil and gas industry and energy facilities, Moscow will be "launching long-range precision weapons strikes at enterprises of the military-industrial complex, workshops for the production of weapons and UAVs, and energy facilities that support the military-industrial complex of Ukraine."

Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email on Monday night for comment.