Sunday, Moscow asserted that its army carried out a lethal “retaliatory strike” in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk in retaliation for the deaths of 89 Russian troops in Makiivka.
The Russian defense ministry said in a statement that a strike on Kyiv troops stationed in two buildings in Kramatorsk that were used as barracks resulted in the deaths of “more than 600 Ukrainian servicemen,” calling the attacks a “retaliatory strike.”
The claim was denied by the armed forces of Ukraine.
Sergiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the Eastern group of the Ukrainian armed forces, stated to the Suspilne media outlet, “This information is as true as the data that they have destroyed all of our HIMARS.” He was referring to US-supplied rocket systems. He claimed that Russia was incapable of carrying out precise strikes.
The report could not be independently verified by AFP.
On Saturday, before midnight, AFP journalists in Kramatorsk, in the eastern part of Donetsk, heard at least four explosions.
Saturday marked Orthodox Christmas in both nations.
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While the precise date of the strike was not specified by the Russian defense ministry, it was stated that Russian intelligence had “over the past 24 hours” confirmed the points in Kramatorsk where Ukraine’s armed forces were temporarily stationed.
Moscow asserted that two buildings housed over 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers.
The head of the Donetsk regional administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, stated earlier on Sunday that seven rocket attacks by Russians targeted Kramatorsk.
He stated that there were no casualties and that “an educational institution, an industrial facility, and a garage cooperative” had been damaged.
Ukraine struck a building that was being used as a barracks in the occupied eastern Ukrainian town of Makiivka on New Year’s Day.
The worst single loss from a Ukrainian strike, Russia acknowledged that 89 troops had perished.
In order to permit Orthodox Christians to observe Christmas, which is observed on January 7 in both Russia and Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 36-hour ceasefire.
On Saturday, the unilateral ceasefire came to an end in Kyiv at 11 p.m. (2100 GMT).
Source: AFP