(Reuters) – Russia’s defence ministry claimed on Sunday that a major rocket attack on two facilities in eastern Ukraine temporarily hosting Ukrainian military killed more than 600 Ukrainian personnel.
Reuters was unable to confirm the military ministry’s claim immediately. There was no immediate response from Ukraine to Russia’s allegation, however the mayor of Kramatorsk, the eastern Ukrainian town Russia claimed it had targeted, announced earlier on Sunday on Facebook that no one had been killed in an assault on numerous structures in the city.
The assault on the structures in Kramatorsk, according to Russia’s defence ministry, was retaliation for a fatal Ukrainian attack earlier this year on a Russian barracks in Makiivka, part of the Donetsk area held by Moscow’s troops, in which at least 89 personnel were killed.
The ministry stated in a statement that it had utilised “trustworthy information” to target Ukrainian forces. According to the report, over 700 Ukrainian servicemen were lodged in one hostel and over 600 in another.
“Over 600 Ukrainian personnel were killed as a consequence of a large missile attack on these temporary deployment areas of Ukrainian armed forces,” the defence ministry claimed.
If confirmed, it would be the single greatest loss of Ukrainian military since Russia’s invasion on February 24, last year.