Russian forces fired missiles at a chemical plant in Ukraine early Monday, causing potentially deadly ammonia to leak for hours, according to a report by the NY Post.
О 07:49 аварію по викиду аміаку у м. Суми на території ПАТ «Сумихімпром» ліквідовано ☑️
Працівниками підприємства розпочато регламентні роботи по відновленню технологічного процесу. pic.twitter.com/eK1iEUZJCw
— Ukrinform (@UKRINFORM) March 21, 2022
The missile fire hit a 50-ton tank of ammonia, injuring at least one worker at the plant. Further details were not revealed.
Sumy regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky warned residents living within a three-mile radius of the Sumykhimprom plant to evacuate – or shelter in a sealed room — just after 4 am.
The warning included tips on first aid for anyone who might have been affected by the leak in the city of 263,000 residents.
Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in the air “can result in blindness, lung damage or death,” according to the NYC Health Dept.
Israeli Ammonia Tank Closed, Product Relocated
In 2013, an Israeli court first ordered Haifa Chemicals to shut down the country’s largest ammonia tank, which residents and environmental groups had warned was a major health hazard and security risk.
Iran’s Lebanese proxy terror group, Hezbollah, had repeatedly threatened to target the facility in a missile attack. Security agencies warned that millions could be injured and killed in such an attack.
The tank held 12,000 tons of ammonia, used in products like fertilizer and explosives. Repeated appeals against the court’s closure order were all rejected. It was finally emptied in September 2017.
Russian Missiles Demolish 10-Story Kiev Shopping Mall
A few hours before the attack on the Ukrainian chemical plant, Russian forces completely destroyed a 10-story Retroville shopping mall in the Podil district of Kiev.
Eight people died in the attack late Sunday, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Four schools at least six homes were damaged in the bombing as well, the mayor said.
Russian Forces Demand Surrender of Mariupol
In the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian forces and residents of the city defied a Russian demand for surrender.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped in the city by Russian forces preventing them from safely evacuating.
Those forces were demanding that residents inside the city surrender by 5 am and promising those who do would be allowed to leave through “safe corridors.”
However, Russian forces have reportedly seeded many such “safe corridors” with land mines and have bombed Ukrainian civilians when they have taken advantage of such offers.
In another attack this weekend, as many as 80 Ukrainian and foreign troops were killed by Russian forces aiming cruise missiles at a military training center in Rivne.
The head of the Rivne regional military administration, Vitaliy Koval, confirmed the twin Russian missile strike but provided no details on casualties.
