Russia blames UK for Storm Shadow strike on military plant, threatens ‘new level’ escalation
Key developments on March 11:
- Russia blames UK for Storm Shadow strike on military plant, threatens ‘new level’ escalation, destruction
- Ukraine hits Russian depots, air defenses in occupied territories, military says
- Russia’s Sochi under ‘unprecedented’ 24-hour mass Ukrainian drone attack, mayor says
- Russia accuses Ukraine of attacking facilities linked to Black Sea gas pipelines
Moscow threatened “a fundamentally new level of destruction and human casualties” after Ukrainian forces struck a military-linked plant in Russia’s Bryansk region using Storm Shadow missiles, according to a statement by Russia’s Foreign Ministry on March 11.
The warning followed a Ukrainian strike on the Kremniy El facility, a major Russian microelectronics producer that manufactures components used in missile guidance systems.
Moscow claimed the attack killed seven civilians and injured 42 others. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims made by Russian officials.
Kyiv, however, said the strike targeted the plant itself, one of Russia’s largest producers of military microelectronics. The facility manufactures semiconductor components used in guidance and control systems for Russian missiles that frequently strike Ukrainian cities.
In response, Russia’s Foreign Ministry argued that Ukraine could not use Storm Shadow missiles without what it called the “direct involvement” of its NATO partners.
“Western states bear full responsibility for the consequences of this strike, which resulted in civilian casualties,” the ministry said. “Britain has gone beyond the norms of international law and is ready… to take the conflict to a fundamentally new level.”
The ministry also accused Kyiv’s Western partners of attempting to derail peace negotiations. The accusations come as a potential round of U.S.-mediated talks is expected next week.
“The use of British weapons systems is taking place against a backdrop of intensified political and diplomatic efforts,” the ministry said. “The goal of London and other Western capitals is clear: to disrupt the peace process through large-scale provocation.”
Ukraine hits Russian depots, air defenses in occupied territories, military says
Ukraine said it carried out a series of strikes across Russian-occupied territories overnight on March 10-11, targeting air defense systems, fuel depots, ammunition storage sites, and other military infrastructure.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces General Staff said the strikes hit a Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile system near occupied Bagativka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, as well as an oil depot in occupied Berdiansk, lubricants depots in the Berdiansk and Kuznetsivka areas, and a drone depot in Novozlatopol.
Separately, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said they destroyed the 64N6E radar station and its antenna in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, which were used for Russia’s S-300 and S-400 air defense systems. SOF also released video it said showed a strike on an ammunition depot in the Shyroka Balka area of occupied Donetsk Oblast.
In the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian forces also struck the command post of a Russian motorized rifle brigade near Avdiivka and logistical facilities near Maryanivka and Pryshyb, according to the General Staff. Ukraine’s military said SOF Resistance Movement partisans assisted in the operation.
The Buk is a self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile system, first developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. In the decades since, the Soviet Union and then Russia developed several upgraded versions.
Kyiv has routinely targeted Russian military infrastructure in occupied territories, as well as oil and industrial facilities that support Moscow’s war effort. Ukrainian officials say such strikes are aimed at disrupting Russian logistics, degrading air defenses, and reducing the supplies available to Russian troops.
Russia's Sochi under 'unprecedented' 24-hour mass Ukrainian drone attack, mayor says
The Russian Black Sea town of Sochi has been under massive and repeated drone attack over the past 24 hours, Mayor Andrey Proshunin said on March 11.
“Today, we encountered an enemy attack unprecedented in length on the resort town, Sochi,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
“It has continued almost a full day with small breaks.”
The air raids have also closed down Sochi’s airport. Planes are facing full-day delays as of press time, cutting off travel for tourists heading to or from the beach.
Prior to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, seaside Sochi was the premiere vacation destination within Russia. Russia held the Winter Olympics that year just weeks before the initial invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin keeps a vacation home in Sochi, though he reportedly no longer travels there due to safety concerns.
While Sochi sounded air raid alerts several times between March 10 and March 11, Proshunin has reported no casualties. By his account, air defense downed one drone over a residential home, causing a fire but not injuring residents.
“The opponent’s attacks today have imposed adjustments to our usual life as residents of Sochi, and as guests of the resort,” Proshunin wrote. “Because of this, solidarity and the correct reaction of residents and guests of the city are very important. I ask all to maintain peace and observe safety rules. The threat on Sochi territory remains.”
Russia accuses Ukraine of attacking facilities linked to Black Sea gas pipelines
Russia on March 11 accused Ukraine of repeatedly attacking energy facilities tied to gas supplies for Turkey and of plotting sabotage against Black Sea pipelines.
Over the past two weeks, Russian defenses fended off 12 attacks against Gazprom sites that ensure gas exports for the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines, the Russian energy giant claimed.
Moscow also informed Turkey about Ukraine’s alleged “plans to sabotage and disrupt the infrastructure” of the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
The accusations come after Putin warned on Feb. 24 that any sabotage of Black Sea pipelines could derail peace talks.
Analysts and officials who previously spoke to the Kyiv Independent framed Moscow’s repeated allegations about Ukraine-backed sabotage plots as part of an effort to disrupt and influence U.S.-led negotiations.
The claim also comes after President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the next round of peace talks could take place in Turkey, a country that has hosted earlier rounds of negotiations.
The Russkaya compressor station in Krasnodar Krai was attacked on March 11, and the Beregovaya and Kazachya stations were attacked a day earlier, Gazprom claimed.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its forces downed 185 Ukrainian drones across multiple Russian regions, occupied Crimea, the Black Sea, and the Azov Sea overnight on March 11.
Ukraine has not commented on Moscow’s accusations.
TurkStream runs from Russia’s Krasnodar Krai to Kiyikoy in Turkey’s European part, with most of the gas flowing onward to Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, and Greece. It is effectively the last pipeline still delivering Russian gas to Europe.
Blue Stream funnels gas from Russia’s Stavropol Krai to Ankara and plays a major role in Turkey’s gas imports.
Putin also warned Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto of Kyiv’s alleged plans to sabotage TurkStream during their meeting in Moscow on March 4. Hungary, broadly regarded as the most Kremlin-friendly government in the EU, has deepened energy ties with Moscow throughout the full-scale war.
Note from the author:
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