Before dawn on Thursday, two Russian cruise missiles hit an American-owned electronics factory in Mukachevo, a town in western Ukraine near the Hungarian border. The attack caused heavy damage and injured more than a dozen people, according to NPR.
Ukrainian authorities said Russia launched over 570 drones and 40 missiles in a single overnight assault. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed at least 15 people were wounded. He called the target “an ordinary civilian enterprise, an American investment,” adding that the factory made everyday items like coffee machines. Zelenskyy criticized the attack, saying Russia struck “as if nothing had changed, as if the world’s efforts to stop this war meant nothing.”
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The factory is owned by Flex, a multinational electronics company with more than 100 facilities worldwide. Founded in the U.S., Flex is listed on NASDAQ and has headquarters in Austin, Texas, and Singapore. The Mukachevo plant, opened in 2012, makes consumer appliances, not military equipment.
Myroslav Biletskyi, head of the regional military administration, said about 600 workers were inside the plant during the strike. He emphasized that the factory only made household products and never military gear. Around one-third of the plant was destroyed in the fire that followed. Videos on social media showed thick black smoke rising from the wreckage.
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Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, condemned the attack, saying: “Russia continues to destroy and humiliate U.S. businesses in Ukraine, targeting companies that invest and trade on the U.S. stock markets.”
The strike came just days after former U.S. President Donald Trump met with both Zelenskyy in Washington and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
The meeting in Alaska failed to establish any solid ground for the ceasefire as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remained insistent on having security guarantees before agreeing to a ceasefire. However, Trump has suggested a trilateral meeting involving him, Putin and Zelenskyy in the near future.
