RUSSIA destroyed a missile factory in the suburbs of the Ukrainian capital Kiev it was confirmed yesterday, as it bombarded the city following Ukrainian strikes onto Russian territory.

Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that Moscow will “increase the number and scale of missile strikes” on the Ukrainian capital after destroying the Vizar military factory.

He claimed it was a response to air strikes on the Russian border village of Klimovo in the Bryansk region on Thursday injuring eight people including a two-year-old child and his pregnant mother. 

Russia has shelled and bombed Ukrainian cities regularly since invading its neighbour on February 24, causing what the UN estimates to be several thousand civilian deaths.

The factory was believed to produce the Neptune missiles that Ukraine credits with sinking the flagship Russian cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea. 

Moscow denies the ship was hit by a Ukrainian missile and insists the hull had been damaged by ammunition that exploded due to a fire on board and ran into difficulties as it was being towed to port. 

“In the stormy sea conditions, the ship sank,” a Defence Ministry statement said. 

According to Ukraine’s armed forces Russia used long-range bombers to attack the besieged port city of Mariupol yesterday. 

Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said battles were ongoing in the city. 

Moscow claimed to have taken control of the strategically important Illich Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol in a joint operation with the Donetsk People’s Republic militia yesterday. 

Mr Konashenkov said the factory had been “fully liberated” from Ukrainian nationalists. 

Mariupol is a stronghold of the neonazi Azov movement which has its headquarters. It was assimilated into the Ukrainian armed forces in 2014. 

In international responses to the war, Finland’s Minister for Europe Tytti Tuppurainen said it was “highly likely” to join Nato yesterday in an interview with Sky News. 

While discussions were yet to take place in the Finnish parliament she said that membership of the military alliance had huge support from the public. 

Sweden is also set to abandon its neutral position and join Nato in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. 

National Association of Italian Partisans leader Gianfranco Pagliarulo hit out at his government after it said it was planning to send more weapons to Ukraine yesterday.  

“We are witnesses to total rearmament, like the one that happened before World War I and World War II. This breeds tensions. An apocalyptic chain reaction follows, which may result in disaster,” he said. 

More arms will lessen the likelihood of peace and cause the conflict to widen, Mr Pagliarulo added.