In one of the most devastating attacks on the Kremlin’s forces in more than 10 years, scores of Russian soldiers were killed by a missile attack in the Donetsk region.
The two sides disagree on the exact number of soldiers who died. Ukraine claimed that 400 Russians were killed while Russia’s defense ministry stated that 63.
According to a Russian defense ministry statement, six rockets were fired by Ukrainian forces from a HIMARS launcher system. Two of them were destroyed.
This strike was carried out with a precision weapon supplied by the USA that had been crucial in enabling Ukrainian forces hit key targets. It also brought a new setback to Russia, which has suffered a lot from a counteroffensive from Ukraine in recent months.
Sky News geo-located footage from Ukraine showing a flattened area covered in rubble, according to officials.
According to the Ukrainian defense ministry, 400 Russians were killed by “careless handling of heating equipment” while 300 others were injured.
Sources close to the Russian-appointed leadership of the Donetsk area claimed that casualty reports were exaggerated, and that Russian recruits were among those who were killed.
Daniil Bezsonov is a Russian-backed senior official in Donetsk’s occupied parts. He said that the missile hit Makiivka just after midnight on New Year’s Day.
Russian nationalist war bloggers raged at the loss of so many soldiers.
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Ukrainians insist on celebrating New Year despite missile strikes
It is a reality that you will wake up to a warhead in your home.
Former commander of pro-Russian forces in east Ukraine, Igor Girkin, who is now a prominent Russian nationalist military blogger, stated that the death toll was in excess of 100.
Rybar, a Russian pro-war military blogger, claimed that more than 100 people were injured in the strike, and that more rubble was being removed.
Evidently, ammunition had been stored in the building. It detonated after the barracks were hit.
Officials said that Russia had deployed several exploding drones to attack Ukraine’s nighttime energy infrastructure.
Vitali Klitschko, the Kyiv Mayor, stated Monday that 40 drones had “headed for Kyiv” over night. According to air defense forces, all of them were destroyed.