MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman was phoned during a live briefing and told not to comment on reports that Russia had fired a ballistic missile at Ukraine, according to a video of the briefing that picked up the telephone conversation.
Kyiv said earlier on Thursday that Russia had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on the city of Dnipro.
Russian Telegram channels said Russia had attacked what is known in Ukraine as the missile and space rocket company Pivdenmash, which is headquartered in Dnipro.
Russia has yet to comment.
While answering reporters’ questions at a weekly briefing, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was phoned by a man who used the informal “Mash” instead of Maria. He told her not to comment on ballistic missiles.
“Yes, hello,” Zakharova said, according to the recording of the briefing.
“Mash,” said the man, who was not identified.
“Yes, I am at a briefing,” Zakharova said.
“About the ballistic missile strike on Yuzhmash (rocket company Pivdenmash) that the Western media are talking about, we are not commenting at all,” the man said.
Asked about the conversation by Russian state news agencies, Zakharova said that while preparing for the briefing she had asked experts for clarification on certain topics as is standard practice.
“The answer came during the briefing – the foreign ministry does not comment. So there is no intrigue,” Zakharova was quoted by RIA state news agency as saying.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Editing by Andrew Osborn and Timothy Heritage)
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