Russia attacking Ukraine with missiles it received from Kyiv for gas debts

That's according to an investigation carried out by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Schemes project, Ukrinform reports.

The journalists received the text of the agreement and the list of numbers of the transferred missiles and compared them with the numbers of the Kh-55s that the Russian army began to use against Ukraine during the full-scale invasion.

The project discovered at least ten missiles from the list that Russia launched at Ukrainian cities - some of them were shot down by Ukrainian air defense forces and some hit residential buildings.

The issue concerns an agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine headed by Valeriy Pustovoitenko and the Russian government led by Vladimir Putin, signed in Yalta in 1999. Under the agreement, Kyiv transferred eight Tu-160, three Tu-95MS bombers, as well as 575 Kh-55 cruise missiles to Moscow. For this, Russia compensated Ukraine for the debt for Russian gas worth UAH 275 million.

Three missiles that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted in January, May and April 2023 in Kyiv and in the Kyiv region appeared on the list of those handed over to Moscow in 1999.

At the end of 2022, one more Kh-55 missile hit an apartment building in the Ukrainian capital, killing a woman. One more missile hit a house in the Kyiv region, injuring a child.

Several more missiles were identified, using photos with numbers on the wreckage obtained from law enforcement sources.