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Scores of Russian soldiers were killed when Ukrainian missiles struck a building in the occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine over the weekend, one of the deadliest days for the Russian military since the war began more than 10 months ago.
“The Kiev regime delivered a strike, firing six projectiles from the U.S.-made HIMARS multiple rocket launcher on a Russian unit near Makeyevka,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said two rockets were shot down but four slammed into the building and surrounding area. The ministry said 63 service members died in the attack, although details remained sketchy. Dmitry Azarov, governor of Russia’s Samara region, said an unspecified number of civilians were among the killed and wounded.
Ukrainian authorities did not claim responsibility for the strike but estimated the death toll at nearly 400, sarcastically blaming “careless handling of heating devices, neglect of security measures, smoking in an unspecified place.”
Igor Strelkov, a Russian military blogger and former defense minister for the breakaway region, said on Telegram that the building was almost leveled after ammunition stored in the same building exploded.
“Almost all the military equipment standing next to the building without the slightest sign of camouflage was also destroyed,” he wrote.
