A Ukrainian assault on a constructing housing Russian troopers within the occupied Donetsk area killed 63 service members on New Yr’s Day, Russia’s Protection Ministry stated on Monday, making it one of many deadliest assaults in opposition to forces Russians from the start of the battle.
The dying toll was disputed by the Ukrainian army, which claimed tons of of troopers had been killed within the rocket assault, however the determine couldn’t be independently confirmed, in line with the New York Instances.
Russian authorities stated the Ukrainian army used a US-made HIMARS guided rocket system to hold out the assault on a brief Russian base.
“The kyiv regime struck with six rockets of the US-made HIMARS a number of launch rocket system on the momentary deployment level of one of many models of the Russian armed forces within the Makeyevka settlement space,” the Protection Ministry stated. From Russia. he stated in an announcement, in line with USA As we speak.
RIA Novosti, a Russian state media group, reported that two of the six missiles fired by the Ukrainian army had been shot down.
Contrasting experiences got here from each Russian and Ukrainian sources. A former Russian paramilitary commander, Igor Girkin, urged that the assaults had been extreme.
Girkin stated in a submit on Telegram, a social media app, that “many tons of” had been lifeless and wounded, saying the constructing briefly housing Russian troops was “virtually utterly destroyed.”
The assault on the town of Makiivka continues as heavy preventing within the Donetsk area is one among 4 areas Russia illegally annexed in October. The experiences of the Ukrainian assault come as Ukrainian officers additionally stated on Monday that they had destroyed 40 exploding Russian drones headed for Kyiv in a single day.