Russian missile struck Indian pharma warehouse in Kyiv, claims Ukraine

A Russian missile struck the warehouse of a Indian pharmaceutical company in Kyiv, the Ukraine Embassy in India alleged on Saturday. It also claimed that Moscow “deliberately targetted Indian businesses despite having a “special friendship” with New Delhi.

The Indian and Russian governments are yet to comment on the matter.

The warehouse that was targetted in the Russian strike belongs to Kusum, a major pharmaceutical company in India.

“Today, a Russian missile struck the warehouse of Indian pharmaceutical company Kusum in Ukraine. While claiming ‘special friendship’ with India, Moscow deliberately targets Indian businesses – destroying medicines meant for children and the elderly,” the Ukraine Embassy in India tweeted.

Martin Harris, the UK’s ambassador to Ukraine, also claimed that Russian strikes destroyed a “major pharma’s warehouse in Kyiv”. However, his post did not mention whether the warehouse belongs to Kusum and also said the attack was carried out by Russian drones and not a missile.

“This morning, Russian drones completely destroyed a major pharmaceuticals warehouse in Kyiv, incinerating stocks of medicines needed by the elderly and children. Russia’s campaign of terror against Ukrainian civilians continues,” Harris tweeted.

The envoy posted a photo showing smoke emanating from a structure that appeared to be a warehouse, and a fire engine at the spot.

Earlier today, Russia’s defence ministry claimed that Ukraine had carried out five attacks on Russian energy infrastructure over the past day, a violation of a US-brokered moratorium on such strikes.

Last month, Ukraine and Russia, fighting each other since Moscow invaded the neighbouring country in February 2022, agreed to pause strikes on each other’s energy facilities. However, both sides have repeatedly accused each other of breaking the moratorium.

India has stressed that dialogue between Russia and Ukraine was the only way to establish peace in the region and has not taken either of their sides, despite New Delhi maintaining cordial ties with both Moscow and Kyiv.