Ukrainians take shelter in a subway station in Kyiv early Thursday as Russia unleashed considered one of its largest airstrikes of the battle. Russia fired greater than 600 drones and missiles, in accordance with the Ukraine navy. Most focused western Ukraine, the place a U.S. electronics manufacturing facility was hit.
Roman Pilipey/AFP through Getty Photos
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Roman Pilipey/AFP through Getty Photos
KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian missile slammed into an American electronics manufacturing facility in a distant nook of far western Ukraine early Thursday, inflicting intensive injury and greater than a dozen accidents, in accordance with Ukrainian officers.
The assault got here as Russia carried out considered one of its largest airstrikes of the battle, firing greater than 570 drones and 40 missiles in an in a single day barrage, in accordance with the officers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was considered one of a number of officers who took to social media to report the airstrike, saying a Russian cruise missile hit the plant and not less than 15 folks had been wounded.
In his submit on the Telegram messaging app, Zelenskyy known as it an “ordinary civilian enterprise, an American investment. They produced such familiar household items as coffee machines.”
The Ukrainian chief went on to say that the Russian navy “delivered this strike as if nothing had changed at all. As if there were no efforts by the world to stop this war.”
Opposite to all efforts to finish the battle, Russia undertook an enormous mixed air strike on Ukraine in a single day.
A whole lot of drones, hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles on civilian and vitality infrastructure.
One of many missiles struck a serious American electronics… pic.twitter.com/CTRoXpsk4y
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) August 21, 2025
Zelenskyy and different officers didn’t identify the corporate. Ukrainian media reviews stated it was Flex, which produces civilian digital parts and merchandise with greater than 100 workplaces and factories worldwide. The corporate has headquarters in each Austin, Texas, and Singapore. Flex didn’t instantly reply to emails searching for remark.
Movies on social media confirmed thick black smoke rising from a big industrial plant within the city of Mukachevo, close to the border with Hungary. On its web site, Flex says it has an operation in Mukachevo.
Russia assaults western Ukraine much less regularly than different areas. However the area was the main target of Russia’s in a single day barrage of lots of of drones and missiles. Ukraine’s navy stated it shot down many of the incoming weapons, however some managed to get by means of. One civilian was killed in Lviv, the biggest metropolis in western Ukraine, the navy added.
Assault follows Trump’s diplomatic efforts
This comes simply days after President Trump met individually with Zelenskyy in Washington and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in an try to launch peace negotiations.
Trump has instructed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers, Air Pressure Gen. Dan Caine, to work on plans for safety ensures for Ukraine. Nonetheless, any U.S. position would doubtless be restricted to some type of air assist. Trump has made clear he would not need U.S. troops on the bottom in Ukraine, whilst peacekeepers after the battle ends.
Caine has been speaking to counterparts in European nations. Some European states say they may ship troops sooner or later sooner or later, however the talks are nonetheless in a preliminary stage because the battle rages on.
Ukrainians, in the meantime, imagine Putin continues to be decided to hold on with the combating. Ukrainians need Western safety ensures, however many say they need to be ironclad.
“I strongly continue to believe that the only solution is NATO membership for Ukraine,” stated Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament who heads the Overseas Affairs Committee. “This would stop the war. This would stop Putin’s aggression because Putin is afraid of only one thing — NATO.”
Many Ukrainians share his place. Ukraine was initially promised a path to NATO membership in 2008, however there’s been no actual progress since, and Trump says it will not occur within the present atmosphere.
Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, has spoken of a assure that would resemble NATO’s Article 5 — which says an assault on one is an assault on all.
However Ukraine has had restricted safety guarantees prior to now, and that hasn’t stopped Russia from invading twice, first in 2014 and once more on a a lot bigger scale in 2022.
Russia stays staunchly against Western troops in Ukraine. Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated the nation’s place Wednesday, saying Russia ought to have veto energy over safety ensures for Ukraine. That will successfully make any such ensures meaningless.
Regardless of the current flurry of diplomatic exercise, neither Russia nor Ukraine has indicated a willingness to make main concessions.
“At the present moment, the interests, positions and stances of Ukraine and Russia are diametrically opposed and they cannot be reconciled,” stated Merezhko, the member of Ukraine’s parliament.
