Tochka-U Missile Shrapnel Kills Civilian, Russia Threatens To Take Action Against Ukrainian Defense Companies

The site where the shrapnel fell from a Ukrainian missile that Russia says killed civilians in Donetsk. (Source: TASS/Valentin Sprinchak)

JAKARTA - The Russian Armed Forces will take action against Ukrainian defense sector companies, which were used by nationalists to repair weapons in response to the attack on Donetsk, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman General Major Igor Konashenkov told reporters.

A Tochka-U tactical missile fired at a residential area of Donetsk City, from an area controlled by the nationalist-backed Kiev regime was intercepted, but its fragments left 23 non-combatants dead and 28 seriously injured, including children, the ministry said.

"In response to this action, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will take immediate action to deactivate the Ukrainian defense industrial companies that manufacture, repair and restore weapons used by nationalists to commit military crimes," Konashenkov stressed, TASS reported March 15.

Regarding the threat of action to be taken, the ministry urged Ukrainians working in these companies and residents of nearby houses, to leave the potentially dangerous zone.

As previously reported, local separatist leaders had told Russian news agency TASS the Tochka-U missile had been intercepted over the rebel stronghold, but parts of it had landed in the city center.

The leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, said that as a result, residential areas were damaged.

"People are queuing near ATMs and standing at bus stops," he told the Rossiya 24 network, as quoted by Al Jazeera.

"There are children among the dead," added Pushilin.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian military authorities were quick to deny the allegations of the attack.

"This is clearly a Russian rocket or other ammunition, there's no point in even talking about it," said Ukrainian military spokesman Leonid Matyukhin at a televised news conference. Asked about reports of the Ukrainian attack in Donetsk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was a tragedy.