Russia’s missile strike on the U.S.-owned enterprise Flex in the Zakarpattia region (Mukachevo) was intended to influence Ukraine’s Western allies and discourage them from investing in the country.
According to Ukrinform, this assessment was made in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
“Russia likely struck the ‘Flex’ enterprise to discourage the United States and Ukraine’s European allies from investing in Ukraine or opening businesses within Ukraine,” the ISW said.
According to experts, Russia likely prepared for this strike for several weeks, stockpiling drones and missiles over the backdrop of ongoing US-Russian negotiations and the August 15 Alaska summit.
“ISW observed that Russia was launching much smaller strike packages in the weeks leading up to the Alaska summit in order to posture itself to the United States as a good-faith negotiator,” the report reads.
According to analysts, Russia was likely to leverage the smaller-scale strikes to stockpile drones and missiles for renewed massive strikes on Ukraine following the summit.
As reported by Ukrinform, on August 21 at approximately 04:40, Russian forces launched a missile strike on an industrial facility in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia region, sparking a large fire. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the attack involved two Kalibr-type missiles.
It took nearly 14 hours to fully contain the blaze, with around 2,600 specialists involved in the emergency response.
By the evening of the same day, the number of people injured in the attack had risen to 23.
Photo credit: Facebook.com/MyroslavBiletskyi.official
Source: Russia targeted U.S.-owned Flex enterprise in Mukachevo to discourage investment – ISW
