JOIN USUkraine missiles hit Luhansk factories, houses: Russian officials
Russian-installed officials in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk on Friday said missiles fired by Kyiv had damaged two disused factories and a number of houses in the region's main city, around 100 km (60 miles) behind the frontlines.
Luhansk authorities, in a post on Telegram, said two Ukrainian-made "grom" tactical missiles damaged or destroyed administrative buildings at a packaging plant and a factory producing cleaning materials. It said windows had been blown out in five homes.
A photo accompanying the post showed a building largely reduced to rubble with one wall left standing.
No casualties were reported.
Videos posted earlier on social media showed a large plume of thick black smoke billowing over Luhansk city.
Because the city lies far from Ukrainian positions, the alleged strikes sparked speculation among analysts that Ukraine could have used a new missile with a longer range.
Leonid Pasechnik, the Russian-installed head of the region, which Russia annexed last year, said the attack was carried out to disrupt the region's local Republic Day celebrations.
Reuters was unable to verify the claims. There was no immediate official reaction from Kyiv to the claimed strikes.
Ukraine's Suspilne Donbas television station reported explosions in the city, quoting residents.
Luhansk lies around 30 km (18 miles) from the border with Russia and 100 km (60 miles) from the frontlines of fighting. That puts it beyond the reach of most of the shorter-range missiles, such as the U.S.-supplied HIMARS, that Ukraine has largely been using in the conflict so far.
Britain this week said it had delivered to Ukraine multiple longer-range cruise missiles, which can hit targets at 300 km - the longest rockets that have been supplied to Ukraine by its Western allies.
The United States earlier this year said it would start providing Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB), GPS-guided "smart bombs" to Ukraine, with a range of around 150 km.