Dozens of Russian soldiers have been killed by a Ukrainian strike in Donetsk on Sunday, Russia’s defense ministry said. Donetsk has been held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and it is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia attempted to annex in October, in violation of international law.
The Russian Ministry of Defence has said an attack on a facility in Makiivka, a Russian-held city in Donetsk, has left 63 soldiers killed, while the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence has said the death toll is closer to 400.
Russia’s defense ministry did not say when the strike took place, but Ukrainian forces are believed to have struck a college converted to a barracks using US-supplied Himars systems as newly-mobilized Russian troops rang in the New Year.
“As a result of a strike by four missiles with a high-explosive warhead on a temporary deployment point, 63 Russian servicemen were killed,” Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement, a rare announcement of losses in Ukraine.
Without claiming responsibility for the strike, Ukraine’s military said the real figure was around 400 Russian troops killed during the attack, which took place in the Moscow-controlled part of the eastern region of Donetsk.
(With inputs from agencies)
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