The Russian Embassy in Sweden, in a rude comment, confirmed the strike on the Swedish company SKF’s plant in Lutsk on the night of 14-15 August, saying that it is a legitimate military target.

Source: European Pravda, referring to the statement of the Russian Embassy

Details: Moscow’s mission recalled the propaganda statement of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation about the destruction of “key enterprises of the military industry of the Kyiv regime”.

Quote from the statement: “Don’t see the connection? Then let’s explain: this plant in Lutsk is part of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex; it produced bearings for Ukroboronprom [association of multi-product enterprises in various sectors of the defence industry of Ukraine - ed]. Of course, there is not a word about this fact in the Swedish press.”

Details: After that, the Russian embassy began to directly threaten that “not only the Swedish equipment supplied to the Banderites [Ukrainians - ed.] but also the enterprises of the military-industrial complex that work for them will be in trouble.”

European Pravda could not find in open sources at least some evidence about cooperation between SKF and Ukroboronprom. According to the official statement of the company, its plant in Lutsk produces tapered roller bearings “primarily for the heavy civil automotive industry”.

The Russian Embassy also kept silent in its statement about the deaths of three employees of the SKF plant in Lutsk.

Background:

  • The Russians launched a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine in the early morning of 15 August. Their missiles hit an industrial facility in Lutsk (three people were killed), residential buildings in Lviv, and an industrial facility in Dnipro (a fire broke out, and two people were injured), and explosions were also heard in Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Smila, Cherkasy Oblast.
  • The Russian invaders attacked Ukraine with 28 air- and sea-based missiles at around 04:00 on 15 August 2023, and Ukrainian defenders destroyed 16 Kh-101/Kh-555 and Kalibr cruise missiles.