Russia Claims Ukrainian Rocket Strike In Donetsk Killed Over 60 Russian Soldiers: Report

According to the Russian defence ministry, 63 Russian soldiers were killed in the Ukrainian military's attack on the military facility in the eastern Donetsk region on Monday.

Rescuers examine a destroyed apartment building after a rocket attack by Russia in Kyiv. Rocket attacks by Russia

Source : Getty

The strike on the military facility in the eastern Donetsk region by the Ukrainian military resulted in the deaths of 63 Russian soldiers, the news agency Associated Press (AP) reported citing the Russian defence ministry's statement on Monday. 

According to a statement from the Russian defence ministry, two of the six rockets fired by Ukrainian forces from a HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) launch system were shot down.

The attack dealt a major blow to Russia, which has been reeling from a Ukrainian counteroffensive in recent months. It used a precise weapon given by the United States that has proven crucial in enabling Ukrainian forces to hit key targets, as stated in the report. 

The Ukrainian military has not confirmed the strike officially but has implicitly recognised it. The Strategic Communications Directorate of Ukraine's Armed Forces said Sunday that 400 mobilised Russian soldiers were killed and 300 more were injured at a vocational school building in Makiivka. That assertion could not be verified independently. The walkout occurred "in the area of Makiivka," according to the Russian statement, but did not name the vocational school, according to the report. 

Meanwhile, Russia used multiple explosive drones in another nocturnal attack on Ukraine, officials claimed Monday, signalling the Kremlin's continued use of bombardments to target the country's energy infrastructure and wear down Ukrainian opposition to its invasion, the report added. 

As per the report, the barrage was the latest in a slew of year-end attacks, including one on New Year's Eve that killed three civilians.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated on Monday that 40 drones "went approaching Kyiv" overnight. According to air defence troops, all of them were destroyed.

According to the report, Klitschko stated that 22 drones were destroyed above Kyiv, three in the surrounding Kyiv region, and 15 over adjacent provinces.

As stated in the report, the attack destroyed energy infrastructure facilities, and an explosion occurred in one city district, according to the mayor. It was uncertain whether this was triggered by drones or other explosives. Klitschko said that a 19-year-old guy had been injured and that the city was experiencing power shortages.

A "critical infrastructure object" and residential buildings were hit in the outlying Kyiv region, as per Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba, who was quoted in the report.

Since October, Russia has carried out almost weekly airstrikes on Ukrainian water and power supplies.

Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has accused Russia of "energy terrorism," citing aircraft bombardments that have left many people without heat in subzero conditions. According to Ukrainian officials, Moscow is "weaponizing winter" in order to demoralise the Ukrainian opposition.

Ukraine is utilising advanced Western-supplied weapons to help shoot down Russian missiles and drones, as well as to fire artillery into Russian-held portions of the nation.

The full-scale assault launched by Moscow on February 24 has failed, placing pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin as his ground forces struggle to retain land and advance. In his New Year's address to the nation, he declared 2022 to be "a year of difficult, necessary decisions".

Russian Drones, Missiles Also Struck Areas Across Ukraine: 

Russian soldiers also deployed drones, missiles, and artillery shells over Ukraine.

Five people were injured in the shelling of a Ukraine-controlled area of the southern Kherson region on Monday morning, as reported by the region's Ukrainian governor, Yaroslav Yanushevich, on Telegram.

According to the official, Russian forces stormed Beryslav, firing on a local market from a tank. Three of the injured are in critical condition and are being airlifted to Kherson, according to Yanushevich.

According to Gov. Vitali Kim, seven drones were shot down over the southern Mykolaiv region, while three more were shot down in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, according to Gov. Valentyn Reznichenko.

According to Reznichenko, a missile was also destroyed in the Dnipropetrovsk region. He stated that the region's energy infrastructure was being targeted.

Ukraine's Air Force Command announced Monday that 39 Iranian-made exploding Shahed drones, as well as two Russian-made Orlan drones and an X-59 missile, were shot down overnight.

(With Inputs From Agencies)