More than 600 of Kiev’s troops have been eliminated in a Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian-held city of Kramatorsk in the Donbass, Russia’s Defense Ministry has claimed.
The bombardment on Sunday was a “retaliation operation” carried out in response to “a criminal attack” by Ukraine on a temporary housing area accommodating Russian servicemen in the city of Makeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on New Year’s night, the ministry said in a statement.
Over the past 24 hours, the Russian military has managed to uncover and confirm the location of Ukrainian troops in Kramatorsk in the DPR, the statement read. This data revealed that dormitory No.28 in the city was hosting more than 700 Kiev soldiers, with 600 more staying in dormitory No.47.
“As a result of a massive missile attack on these temporary housing areas of the Ukrainian military’s units, more than 600 Ukrainian servicemen were killed,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian military, however, has denied sustaining heavy casualties as a result of the strikes. A spokesman for the Eastern Grouping of Ukrainian Armed Forces, Sergey Cherevaty, dismissed Moscow’s statement as a “psy-op” intended to distract from Russia’s own heavy losses of equipment and personnel.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Minister of Defense explains that Ukraine is carrying out NATO’s mission, Ukrainians are defacto dying so NATO soldiers wouldn’t have to, at least not in large numbers.
US Senator Lindsey Graham confirmed the same thing.
Ukraine’s job is to fight to the last man, serving US and NATO interests.