MOSCOW

Moscow had struck Ukraine’s Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant with an Oreshnik missile on Jan. 9, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

"According to information confirmed by several independent sources, as a result of a strike carried out by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the night of Jan. 9 using the mobile ground-based missile complex Oreshnik, the Lviv State Aircraft Repair Plant has been disabled," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the plant repaired and serviced Ukrainian military aviation equipment, including F-16 and MiG-29 fighter jets supplied by Western countries, and also produced medium- and long-range strike drones used to attack civilian targets deep inside Russia.

"The strike of the Oreshnik missile complex hit production workshops, warehouses storing finished products (drones), and the infrastructure of the factory's airfield," the statement added.

The strike was part of a larger operation that also involved Iskander short-range ballistic missiles and Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles that targeted two Kyiv-based enterprises assembling strike drones and energy infrastructure supplying Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi had earlier confirmed an Oreshnik missile strike in the Lviv region, noting that there were no casualties but acknowledging that “one of the critical infrastructure facilities” had been hit.

"If this ballistic missile had carried a warhead, the consequences would have been simply disproportionate. Thank God it did not have a warhead," the mayor stated.

Initial media reports suggested that the Oreshnik had struck the Bilche-Volytsko-Uherske underground gas storage facility, the largest in Europe, storing up to half of Ukraine’s gas reserves, including fuel owned by Western companies.

Following the strike, the sky over the Lviv region reportedly turned red, an unusual glow captured by local residents.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia's strike demonstrated an unwillingness to achieve peace. He also urged Western partners to strengthen Ukraine's air defense.