Ukrainian missiles flatten Russian stronghold at "underground fortress"

On April 2, the mil.in.ua website posted a video recording the scene of the country's military launching a missile attack on a Russian base in the AZOM metallurgical plant area in Bakhmut, which is considered an "underground fortress" of the Ukrainian defense forces.

Ukrainian missiles flatten Russian stronghold at "underground fortress" AZOM (Video: mil.in.ua).

According to Ukrainian journalist Andrii Tsaplienko, the attack was carried out with Tochka-U ballistic missiles. The captured images show that the Russian base was flattened. Mr. Tsaplienko said that a number of Russian soldiers and military equipment were eliminated after the attack.

Observers believe the attack was carried out to relieve the siege of Ukrainian defense forces at the AZOM plant. On March 28, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denish Pushilin announced that Russian troops and members of the private military company Wagner had entered the metallurgical plant.

According to the head of the pro-Russian administration in Donetsk, Ukrainian defense forces have now reorganized defensive positions inside the AZOM plant's administrative building and are trying to resist.

AZOM, one of the largest non-ferrous metal factories from the former Soviet Union, was built to withstand attacks from the outside.

"The AZOM plant is supposed to be able to survive even in a nuclear conflict. There is an underground communications system and it has its own water supply and generators," Ukrrudprom, a Ukrainian metals news website, reported.

Aerial view of the AZOM metallurgical complex (Photo: El Espanol).

Western intelligence officials confirmed that Ukrainian soldiers have attempted to consolidate defensive positions in AZOM, including areas 350m underground, in order to draw Russian forces and Wagner members in to prolong the war and exhaust the enemy's resources and weapons.

Regarding the weapon used in the Ukrainian attack on Russian forces in AZOM, Tochka-U is the most popular tactical ballistic missile in the Ukrainian army's arsenal. This missile can attack enemy tactical targets such as logistics facilities, bridges, ports, weapons depots, airports, troop concentrations, etc. Tochka-U mostly uses fragmentation warheads, thereby achieving relatively high damage. However, this missile is not highly rated for its precision attack capabilities.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet commented on the video.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/ten-lua-ukraine-san-phang-cu-diem-cua-nga-tai-phao-dai-duoi-long-dat-20230402175811939.htm